Distrust in the political system is the most commonly cited reason that eligible voters in Detroit say they don't plan to vote in November, according to a University of Michigan survey.
The survey, fielded by U-M's Detroit Metro Area Communities Study in partnership with Outlier Media and supported by Poverty Solutions at U-M, asked 1,100 Detroiters about their reasons for not planning to vote.
A new issue brief analyzes who these unlikely voters are, measures what issues they care about, and explores whether there is anything that Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump, or anyone else can do to bring them back to the polls.
Latino voters in Detroit were significantly more likely than other ethnoracial groups to report being unlikely to vote in November, with 24% indicating that they were unlikely to vote compared to only 8% of white Detroiters and 11% of Black Detroiters.
Voters under 35 were about twice as likely as voters 35 and over to suggest they were unlikely to vote in the general elections in November. Eighteen percent of eligible Detroit voters under 35 reported that they were unlikely to vote in the November elections compared to 10% of those between 35 and 54, 9% of those between 55 and 64, and 8% of those 65 and over.
More formal education also is associated with a higher likelihood of voting. Eligible Detroit voters without a bachelor's degree (14%) were more likely to say they're unlikely to vote in the general election in November, relative to eligible Detroit voters with a bachelor's degree (4%).
The most commonly cited reasons for not voting in the upcoming November election were general distrust in the political system—including the perception that their vote doesn't make a difference—and not liking the candidates. Detroiters commented that "I believe politics is a sham" and "seems like nothing changes" on the survey.
"We have a survey in the field now asking Detroiters again about their intention to vote, and it will be interesting to see if a different Democratic presidential candidate mobilizes more voters," said Mara Ostfeld, a faculty lead for the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, who co-authored the issue brief on unlikely voters.
"Nonvoters carry particular weight in Michigan where the outcome of elections for federal office are often determined by tiny slices of the electorate—less than 11,000 votes in 2016, for example. It's important to understand why some residents of Michigan's largest city are not feeling motivated to vote."
The survey asked Detroiters about the issues they want to see federal and city government officials address. For the U.S. government, cost of living/inflation and crime and safety were the top issues. For the city government, the priorities were crime and safety and street repairs.
Despite their hesitancy to vote, these voters are not sitting on the couch at home. Sixty-seven percent of these Detroit residents said they're engaged in their communities in other ways. The most common forms of community engagement among unlikely voters are:
- talking with others in their community or neighborhood about dealing with a community issue or problem (37%),
- contributing money to a charitable organization or cause (37%), and
- contributing time or money to a religious organization (36%).
"We shouldn't view people who say they're unlikely to vote as disengaged. The survey shows many of these Detroit residents are involved in other nonelectoral civic activities and following the news. But for a variety of reasons, voting in November is not a priority for them," said Yucheng Fan, data manager for DMACS, who co-authored the issue brief.
Additional DMACS reports on the priorities of Detroit and Michigan residents going into the 2024 elections:
- Cost of living tops Detroiters' priorities for US government
- Michigan metro areas divided on views on legal immigration
Written by Lauren Slagter, Poverty Solutions
