A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center finds that a record of 11.2 million Latinos voted in the 2012 presidential election, yet still participated in less numbers than black and white voters.
The research shows that while 48% of Latino eligible voters turned out to vote in 2012, 66% of black eligible voters participated in the presidential election along with 64.1% of eligible white voters.
“Many of the campaigns [last] year, in 2012, reached out to Hispanics in states like Nevada, like Colorado, like Florida – states that were battleground states,” says Mark Lopez, Associate Director of the Pew Research Center. “But half of Hispanic voters live in two states alone, Texas and California, and neither was a battleground in 2012, and that’s part of the reason why we see a somewhat lower voter turnout rate for Hispanics compared to others.”
Researchers believe that the growth of Latino eligible voters increased because of Latino youth. However, Latinos make up about 17.2% of the U.S. population, 10.8% of the eligible voter population, and only 8.4% of the voting population in 2012.
“The Hispanic population remains incredibly young,” says Chris Cillizza, Writer for The Washington Post. “…and as the younger generations of Latinos come of age, it’s possible their attitudes toward voting — as in, doing it — will change.”
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