Outgroup Empathy and Opposition to Restrictive Voting Laws

A suite of state-level laws that increase the burden placed on eligible voters has proliferated in the years following the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision. Critics have argued that these laws are thinly veiled attempts by Republicans to disenfranchise minority groups who lean toward the Democratic Party. If this is the case, attitudes about these restrictive policies should be powerfully driven by empathy for the groups negatively impacted, so long as individuals recognize the racialized intent behind the laws. This study examines the links between outgroup empathy and opposition to a variety of voting restrictions. Evidence from multiple national surveys conducted from 2018 to 2024 indicates that higher outgroup empathy indeed corresponds to greater opposition to restrictive voting laws. As predicted, however, this relationship is highly conditional on political sophistication: those most likely to be aware that these laws target minorities are also those who bring outgroup empathy to bear on their opposition to voting regulations intended to restrict access to the ballot.