Education and the Unequal Costs of Voting: Administrative Burdens and Democratic Participation

Administrative burdens are an inherent feature of citizen–state interactions, shaping who can access public programs and exercise fundamental rights. These burdens are not distributed evenly; instead, they tend to exacerbate inequality by imposing disproportionate costs on individuals with fewer resources or skills. Given that some administrative burdens exacerbate complexity, this paper investigates an understudied dimension upon which burdens may have disproportionate impacts: education. Using the case of U.S. elections, this paper explores how administrative burdens interact with education to shape democratic participation. Drawing on validated voter data from the Cooperative Election Study (2008–2024) linked with the Cost of Voting Index, I show that increases in the administrative complexity of voting disproportionately deter participation among individuals with less education. By highlighting education as a critical but understudied dimension of inequality in navigating burdens, this study demonstrates how the design of onerous public policies, such as election laws, can systematically advantage some citizens over others.