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Nurse Voting in Ohio Primary Elections: A Cohort Study
Ruth Ludwick1, Margarete L Zalon, Kristin Baughman
1Ruth Ludwick is a professor emerita at the Kent State University College of Nursing, Kent, OH. Margarete L. Zalon is a professor emerita at the University of Scranton Department of Nursing, Scranton, PA. Kristin Baughman is a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH. Rebecca M. Patton is the Lucy Jo Atkinson Professor in Perioperative Nursing at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. Contact author: Ruth Ludwick, rludwick@kent.edu. The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Background:
With over 6 million RNs and LPNs in the United States, nurses have potential political power. As frontline caregivers, they witness the impact of policy on the health of people and communities. Voting is an essential civic duty, but voter turnout in primary elections is very low. Nurses' primary voting behavior has not yet been examined.
Purpose:
This cohort study aimed to examine the actual voting behavior of licensed nurses (LPNs, RNs, and advanced practice registered nurses [APRNs]) in Ohio primaries in 2020, 2022, and 2024, and how nurse characteristics (licensure type, age) were related to voting.
Methods:
Nurse data were acquired in October 2023 from two public datasets made available by the Ohio Board of Nursing: a list of all licensed nurses and a list of all APRNs in the state. Public Ohio voter registration and voting record data were obtained in July 2024 from the Ohio Secretary of State website. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used to examine relationships between age, nurse licensure type, and voting behavior.
Results:
There is a wide gap between nurses' voter registration status and primary voting behavior. Of licensed nurses with Ohio addresses, 73.7% were registered to vote. Nurse voter turnout in the three primary elections ranged from 19.1% to 22.4%. A small fraction of nurses (7.3%) voted in all three primaries. Older nurses were significantly more likely to vote than younger nurses. There were significant differences in primary turnout among LPNs, RNs, and APRNs in each of the elections, with LPNs' turnout lower than that of RNs and APRNs.
Conclusion:
The low voter turnout highlighted in this study is a call to action for nurses to participate in policy by choosing their elected decision-makers. Nurses have the potential to be a powerful force in influencing health through voting.
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