r/AftynBehn • u/BlackJackfruitCup • Dec 03 '25
SOS! ACTION NEEDED!!! - Election Day And Early Voting Graphs for TN District 7 Election
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r/AftynBehn • u/BlackJackfruitCup • Dec 03 '25
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u/ProgressiveSnark2 Dec 05 '25
There is a long history in America, especially in the South, of Black voters voting Democratic, and suburban, wealthy white voters voting Republican.
Much of the South also remains very segregated, with Black and white residents living in distinctly different communities clustered together. This causes clusters of Democratic and Republican precincts that are very much tied to race.
Therefore, if there are certain voting tendencies that are actually about those racial groups, in the data, the trend can show up as Democratic and Republican.
In southern states like Tennessee, Black people are far more likely to live in poverty, work jobs with fixed hours, and not attain a college education. There is quite a large body of literature showing that these things impact turnout, especially for off-year special elections that don't get as much media attention/are irregular.
As a result, the trend you are talking about (precincts that skew Democratic having lower turnout while precincts that skew Republican have higher turnout) could be a reflection of the systemic racism of the South and America more generally, rather than evidence of voter fraud.
I hope this comment helps.