What Motivates the Vote? Discrimination as a Moderator on Political Interest on Voting

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of political interest on voting and the moderating effect of discrimination in this relationship. Using the National American Asian Survey, Post-Election 2016 (N = 3617), we used binary logistic regression to examine the influence of political interest on voting behavior among a majority persons-of-color sample. We examined the moderating effect of everyday and major discrimination on the primary relationship using the interaction term and simple slope test. We demonstrate that political interest can positively predict voting (OR = 1.699, p < .001). Those interested in politics who experienced everyday (OR = 1.094, p < .05) and major (OR = 1.094, p < .05) discrimination were associated with an increased likelihood to vote. This study demonstrates the importance of empowering marginalized communities to develop political interest, and how discrimination plays an important role in increasing voting motives.