Voting for oneself. Voting in the biographical work of disabled voters

How can we explain the voter turnout of disabled people? While their precarious living conditions, professional situation and health could explain a higher abstention rate, quantitative data indicate a comparable participation of able-bodied and disabled voters, once they have passed the registration barrier. The qualitative approach also reveals that this participation is often accompanied by the mobilization of what we describe as a “participationist creed”. To understand how disability determines voting behavior, we propose to look at how voting contributes to the biographical work of individuals. We highlight the way in which disability erodes the social resources that people have, making voting one of the few remaining supports for the social self-image. Depending on disability biographical impacts, voting distinguishes or affirms an individual’s belonging to a social world.