HOST: Registered voters who live in neighborhoods hit by foreclosures are less likely to go to the polls. As Rachel Dornhelm reports, that’s according to a new study by researchers at UC Riverside.

RACHEL DORNHELM: The study looked at voter turnout from the 2008 presidential election in California. Co-author Vanessa Estrada-Correa, a sociology professor at UC Riverside, said they compared that with housing data and controlled for variables like education, race, and class.

VANESSA ESTRADA-CORREA: So even when we’re comparing apples to apples -- two neighborhoods that have the same socioeconomic and demographic compositions -- the one with the higher foreclosure rate still had lower turnout.

DORNHELM: Estrada-Correa says the results suggest that community stability may be an important factor in whether people vote. The research team is planning to do a follow-up study after this year’s election. Estrada-Correa says she expect to find the effects of social disruption have grown.

I’m Rachel Dornhelm, KQED News.