Hispanic Voter Turnout Rate In America Essay 2014

In 2008, African-American presidential nominee Barack Obama garnered 67% of the Latino vote. In his bid for re-election, President Barack Obama acquired 71% of the Latino vote (Pew Research Center). With these statistics in mind, one can conclude that there has been a consistent growing pattern of continued co-operation between blacks and Latinos at the national level. This is in complete contrast however, to the mindset of some observers who believed that Latinos would not come out in the numbers they did because of racial bias and because of the fact that Obama received much less support amongst Latinos in the democratic primaries when faced against Hilary Clinton (Hero & Preuhs, p.3). Many people mistakenly thought this to be so because

This could be due to George D. Bush though, as in the 2000 he made a significant effort to pitch for the Hispanic vote, with the help of him speaking fluent Spanish. However, in 2012 these figures went down to 27%. With 71% of the Hispanic population supporting Obama and the Democratic beliefs such as rights for ethnic minorities, welfare and supporters of the ‘dream act’ allowing for naturalisation. There was also evidence of the alienation of this group however, by Romney in 2012, whose reference to ‘self-deportation’ and anti-immigration views in the campaign is thought to have affected his chances of winning in several states and for some future Republicans in their campaigns. But, Hispanics did help push Republicans to victory in a few 2014 races, as when Cory Gardner ousted Colorado Senator.

Whether or not there is a legitimate reason for Republicans to worry about states like Texas leaning Democratic because of their minority, including Hispanic, populations, may depend largely on the level of political engagement of these groups. Increasing voter registration and turnout is a decidedly mixed proposition for the Republicans: if past is prologue, Latinos tend to vote Democrat so that in order for Republicans to prevail in elections, they must either launch an aggressive campaign to win over Latinos, or try to suppress the Latino vote so that there will be fewer votes for Democrats. For Texas, its electoral future depends on whether it can engage a larger number and broader range of its citizens to meet the opportunities and challenges that lay ahead (Lawrence.) If not, Texas will continue to be a state in which there are minimal levels of voter participation overall, and where minority groups are significantly underrepresented.

This research examines the disjuncture between Hispanic strength in population and Hispanic participation in politics. I examine the nature of this disjuncture: its severity, its causes, and its consequences. Hispanics currently comprise 11.2% of the U.S. population, but the Hispanic vote in the 1998 elections comprised only 4.7% of all ballots cast. The situation is even bleaker when considering Hispanic representation in Congress. Currently, less than four percent of U.S. House members are Latino. Add to that clear disjuncture the fact that two of the Hispanic Congressmen do not even possess the ability to vote and that there is not a single Hispanic Senator, and we see that

The Texas population consists of people with a variety of different cultural and racial background. The Texas population seems to be very young with an approximate 27.3 percent of the population being under the age of 18, and about 11.5 percent being over the age of 65 (U.S. Census Bureau, “Texas.”). Factors that increase the Texas population include higher birthrates, lower death rates, as well as immigration from other countries and states. The population is changing from a primarily white population as recorded during the 1990s to a projected primarily Latino population by 2050. However, Latinos were not a considered a separate ethnic group until the 1990s but were counted to the white population which consisted of European whites and the Latinos. The African- American population decreased from over 20 percent during the 1850s to below 20 percent population as of 2015. Asian- Americans are considered the smallest population in Texas at 4.5 percent (The Asian Population,” 2010 Census Briefs). Due to the changing economy and

The amount of Latinos in this country is rapidly growing; the Latino community is 16.3 percent of the population. In the article written by Kate Linthicum, it is estimated that 40 million Latinos will be eligible to vote by 2030 and in 2014, 25 million Latinos were eligible to vote. In the previous 2012 Presidential elections, the massive amount of Latinos had a significant importance in the election. Both the Democratic and Republican political party aimed to receive the support of the Latino voters. This upcoming election both political parties will have to find strategies to win over the Latino vote. Neither the Democratic nor the Republican political party is a perfect fit for the Latinos in the United States. They both have some qualities

61% of the eligible electorate voted in the 1968 presidential election (Nicholas, 1969), while only 58.6% voted in the 2012 presidential election (Kernell et al., 2016, p. 450). Although national voting rates in 2008 and 2012 were lower than historical rates, voting rates among minorities were at an all time high. This suggests that there is an inverse relationship between national voting rates and minority voting rates, at least in the context of the 1968, 2008, and 2012 elections: if one rate rose, the other fell. Further research on why this occurs would be beneficial for future presidential elections. Voting rates among immigrants are still very low compared to native born voting rates, so efforts to encourage political participation among immigrants should be increased. Efforts to increase the national voting rate (including all races and ethnicities) should also be

Since Texas, a relatively poor state, has one of the higher poverty rate compared to other states, the overall turnout rate is low. The people who tend to vote are better educated, richer, and Anglo, so the diverse ethnicities in Texas are another factor in low voter turnout

The executive Order was passed by President Obama and he being part of the Democratic Party, will benefit them when voting time comes. According to estimates from the 2013 ACS, it states that, “the U.S. immigrant population stood at more than 41.3 million, or 13 percent, of the total U.S. population of 316.1 million.” Latino voters make up 8% of the nation’s voters according to exit polls. 25 million are eligible voters and their support will mainly lean towards Democrats. Latinos have played an important role in helping President Obama win the presidency in both of his races. The center’s 2014 National Survey of Latinos suggest that, “Two-thirds (66%) of Latino registered voters say passing new immigration legislation soon is extremely or very important”. To conclude, Obama’s strategy to win over the substantial Latino vote will serve to the Democratic advantage in future

Texas falls back to the three groups that make up the population, the Anglos or whites, the African Americans, and the Latinos. There are different opinions between the Anglos and the Latinos concerning the language that should be used in the schools. The Latinos believe that the use of bilingual education helps the students transition from Spanish-speaking to English-speaking and leads to better instructions in the schools. Most of the Anglos oppose this policy leaving and ethnic divide within the state. The Latinos usually have less of an education and also have the highest dropout rate of high schools’ students. Economic factors along with social issues within the state has also contributed to the low voter turnout.

Now it has become the largest racial minority in the U.S., there’s no denying the influence that Latinos have as a voting bloc. While Hispanics have more political power than they did during the Civil Rights Era, they also have new challenges. Immigration and education reforms are of key importance to the community. Due to the urgency of such issues, this generation of Chicanos will likely produce some notable activists of its own.

In 2014, Texas’ population reached nearly 26 million people and close to 10 million are Hispanics. Now out of the 10 million Hispanics, less than half of them can vote or will vote. In the 2010 census, approximately one million are illegal immigrants along with a number of visa and green card holders. (Hispanics wont) Some Professionals say that the longer immigrants stay in the country the more likely they would loose interest in politics and the less likely they are to vote.

Non-Hispanic Whites make up forty-three percent of the voting age in California, but are seventy percent of the state’s likely voters. Anglos consistently have high voter turnout, partly because of their composition among demographics that actually vote more often, including the educated, the older generations, and the affluent.

The Asian Americans tend to vote for Democrats as well. The majority of the Hispanic population tend to vote for the Democrats as well. However the Cuba Americans lean toward the Republicans (Schmidt, Shelley, Bardes, 2011, p.195-6)

Under the 15th amendment, there is a right to vote by every people who are the citizens of the United States even though; they are Latinos, African-American or Asian. Voting is the important issues in political process as well as for the people themselves to decide the upcoming government in election. Moreover that, immigrants citizen must be very concerned about voting as there are few candidate who shows interest in the favor of immigrants people. Among the immigrants, Hispanic or Latinos are the largest minority group i.e. 44.3 million or 15 percent according to the U.S. census bureau (2006) (Zulema Valdez). They got rights to choose a candidate as they can rely on for their needs to be fulfilled by that candidate. As shown, most of the Immigrants people are not utilizing their rights to vote even though, they are eligible to vote. Such kind of people who don’t participate to vote in the election, known as a voter apathy as their lack of interest in voting. Voter apathy is one of the main factors that impact the political process making very large difference in the upcoming government. A group-based discrimination has been the reason behind the voter apathy affecting the political participation. The political incorporation of immigrants or Latinos group is caused by the group based on resources or by their own perception for the election that’s the reason for not participating in the electoral political process which affect their political participation