Nov 24, 2008

What about Latino young voters?

The media is abound with articles that expose the large power of the Latino vote. Article after article there is talk about how Latinos decided the presidential election and how Hispanics were an instrumental voting bloc in determining local elections. Correctly so. But what about Latino young voters?

Latino young voters, defined as Hispanic voters between the ages of 18 to 29, account for approximately 2.6 million voters in the United States. The Latino young vote is one of the electorates that will continue to grow exponentially in the coming years. This will happen in part because of the large number of Latinos that are becoming citizens and because many Latino youth will be turning 18 years of age. During the next 20 years, 750,000 Latinos will turn 18 every year—making them eligible to register and vote. In addition to this, it is important to note, that the median age of the Latino population in this country is 26 years old compared to the median age of Whites that is 40 years of age. This means that a great majority of the individuals that make up the Latino population are individuals who are younger. Thus our political participation will increase in the same measure as our population matures. Latino young voters have been steadily increasing their participation for the last 3 presidential elections.

To illustrate this point, please consider the young Latino turnout in the 2008 presidential election. Although young Latino voters are only 1.4% of the total U.S. electorate, according to CNN Exit Poll Results of the 2008 General Election young Latino voters accounted for 3% of the turnout in the election. Thus, Latino youth doubled their impact on the electorate during the 2008 election. It is fair to say that no other demographic has accomplished this voter turnout feat. So next time you read that the sleeping giant has awoken remember that the sleeping giant has sons, daughters, nephews and grandchildren and that the Latino young vote is also making the difference!

by Janice Paulino, Nat’l Coordinator for Young Voters, Democracia USA