Research – Kevin T. Morris

Voting Rights & the Racial Turnout Gap

How the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder and subsequent restrictive voting laws have widened racial disparities in political participation.

Journal Morris, Kevin T. and Michael G. Miller (Online First). “Did Shelby County v. Holder Increase the Racial Turnout Gap?” Journal of Politics. [Open Access]

Journal Miller, Michael G., Kevin T. Morris, Ian Shapiro, and Coryn Grange (Online First). “The Disparate and Durable Effects of Mail Voting Restrictions: Evidence from Texas.” Journal of Politics. [Open Access]

Report Morris, Kevin and Coryn Grange (2024). “Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022.” Brennan Center for Justice. [Report]

Cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Alexander v. SC State Conference of the NAACP (2024).

Report Brater, Jonathan, Kevin Morris, Myrna Pérez, and Chris Deluzio (2018). “Purges: A Growing Threat to the Right to Vote.” Brennan Center for Justice. [Report]

Report Klain, Hannah, Kevin Morris, Max Feldman, and Rebecca Ayala (2020). “Waiting to Vote: Racial Disparities in Election Day Experiences.” Brennan Center for Justice. [Report]

Chapter Morris, Kevin, and Myrna Pérez (2021). “Barriers to the Ballot Box in Texas.” In Mexican American Civil Rights in Texas, edited by Robert Brischetto and J. Richard Avena, 225–41. Michigan State University Press.

Race, Resentment, & Democratic Erosion

How racial resentment structures who believes in voter fraud—and how these beliefs shape election policy.

Journal Morris, Kevin T. and Ian Shapiro (Online First). “On Fertile Ground: How Racial Resentment Primes White Americans to Believe Fraud Accusations.” Political Behavior. [Open Access]

Journal Morris, Kevin (2023). “A Right Restricted: Racial Threat and the Sponsorship of Restrictive Voting Laws.” Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 8(3): 421–45. [Open Access]

Report Morris, Kevin (2022). “Patterns in the Introduction and Passage of Restrictive Voting Bills are Best Explained by Race.” Brennan Center for Justice. [Report]

Journal Morris, Kevin (2024). “Linking Geographically-Mediated Racial Threat and Racial Resentment.” Socius, 10. [Open Access]

Criminal Justice & Political Participation

How contact with the criminal legal system—from traffic stops to felony disenfranchisement—shapes voter turnout and civic engagement.

Journal Morris, Kevin and Kelsey Shoub (2024). “Contested Killings: The Mobilizing Effects of Community Contact with Police Violence.” American Political Science Review, 118(1): 458–74. [Open Access]

Journal Ben-Menachem, Jonathan and Kevin Morris (2023). “Ticketing and Turnout: The Participatory Consequences of Low-Level Police Contact.” American Political Science Review, 117(3): 822–34. [Open Access]

Journal Morris, Kevin (2021). “Turnout and Amendment 4: Mobilizing Eligible Voters Close to Formerly Incarcerated Floridians.” American Political Science Review, 115(3): 805–20. [Publisher]

Chapter Manza, Jeff, and Kevin Morris. “Felony Disenfranchisement and Political Inequality.” In Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective, edited by David B. Grusky, Nima Dahir, and Claire Daviss, 5th ed.

Journal Morris, Kevin (2021). “Neighborhoods and Felony Disenfranchisement: The Case of New York City.” Urban Affairs Review, 57(5): 1203–25. [Publisher]

Journal Morris, Kevin (2021). “Welcome Home—Now Vote! Voting Rights Restoration and Postsupervision Participation.” Social Science Quarterly, 102(1): 140–53. [Free Access]

Elections & Crises

How mass shootings, pandemics, and natural disasters affect voter turnout and electoral outcomes.

Journal Shoub, Kelsey and Kevin T. Morris (2025). “The Effect of Mass Shootings on Voter Turnout in the United States.” Science Advances, 11(46): eadx5418. [Open Access]

Journal Morris, Kevin (Online First). “Between Withdrawal and Engagement: Disentangling the Effects of Covid-19 on Turnout.” Journal of Politics. [Accepted Version]

Journal Morris, Kevin and Peter Miller (2023). “Authority After the Tempest: Hurricane Michael and the 2018 Elections.” Journal of Politics, 85(2): 405–20. [Publisher]

Journal Morris, Kevin and Peter Miller (2022). “Voting in a Pandemic: COVID-19 and Primary Turnout in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.” Urban Affairs Review, 58(2): 597–613. [Publisher]

Electoral Administration and Behavior

Journal Dowling, Conor M., Michael G. Miller, and Kevin T. Morris (2025). “Crossover Voting Rates in Partisan and Nonpartisan Elections: Evidence from Cast Vote Records.” Political Research Quarterly, 78(2): 720–37. [Open Access]

Report Morris, Kevin, and Peter Dunphy (2019). “AVR Impact on State Voter Registration.” Brennan Center for Justice. [Report]