Activists report sharp rise in Latinos registering to vote in US elections

( Spanish) – Latino voting activists in the United States reported a significant increase in the number of voters who have registered to participate in the November elections, a trend that underscores the importance of this demographic for the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The nonpartisan organization Voto Latino reported that its own registration drive has surpassed 112,000 registrations through its platform so far this year, thus reaching the goals it had set for crucial states such as Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona and North Carolina.

Voto Latino’s vice president of communications, Diana Castañeda, told that there was a noticeable increase starting July 21, when President Joe Biden withdrew from the electoral race and announced his support for the vice president. “Before, we had a daily average of 300 or 400. After the announcement, we went to 1,000, 1,200, 1,300 per day,” she said, clarifying that the numbers are expected to rise as the voting date approaches. Since that day, more than 67,000 Hispanics have completed registration with the platform, a figure that does not include people who signed up independently.

Latinos represent 14.7% of all eligible voters in November 2024, meaning at least 36.2 million are eligible to vote in this year’s presidential election, according to the Pew Research Center, among the more than 65 million Hispanics living in the U.S., according to the country’s Census Bureau.

Eli Valentín, a political analyst and professor at Virginia Union University, told that while it is not certain which party would benefit most from the increase in Latino voters, the advantage would initially go to Harris. “Many of the younger Latinos are more independent. We don’t yet know how this will play out in the future, but in the immediate moment, Democrats could benefit more,” he said.

Valentín said that several Latino organizations are seeking to attract new voters and there is a combination of factors across the political spectrum that are driving this increase, but he considered that Harris’ campaign has contributed more to this dynamic.

Castañeda explained that in previous campaigns, a large part of those registered to vote were immigrants who obtained U.S. citizenship, but that now the majority of those registered to vote are young people of Hispanic origin who have reached the minimum age. “Every 30 seconds, a young Latino (in the U.S.) turns 18,” he said.

Among the 112,000 people registered by Voto Latino so far in 2024, 55% are between 18 and 29 years old. And, among those who registered since July 21, 86% are under 40.

Castañeda also pointed out that young people are fulfilling an educational role for first and second generation Latinos, helping them “to register and debunk fake news” about the electoral process and campaigns.

Millions of Hispanics live in states like Florida and New York, but it is not necessarily there where their vote can be most decisive. The demographic map continues to change and the states with the highest proportion of possible Latino voters in 2022 were New Mexico (45%), California (33%) and Texas (32%), according to an analysis from the Pew Research Center. Others such as Arizona (25%) and Nevada (22%) also show an increasingly significant figure.

“There are a lot of young voters in Arizona, we are expecting 160,000 new young Latino voters and they can make a difference if there is a very close election, not only in the presidential election, but also in the congressional seats,” Castañeda said.

Among the states with a growing Hispanic population, Valentín highlighted one in particular. “Pennsylvania is crucial, I think it is what Ohio was before: whoever wins Pennsylvania, will win the presidency. And there are certain counties there with a large number of Latinos. It is a new reality,” he said. “That adds strength to the Latino vote. No candidate can campaign without paying attention to it,” he added. For Valentín, both Harris and Trump are trying to connect with the Latino vote.

This week, Harris attacked Trump over his immigration platform, warning that there could be “mass deportations” and “mass detention camps” if the Republican candidate returns to the White House. “We all remember what they did to separate families, and now they have committed to carrying out the largest deportation in American history,” she said.

Trump, despite maintaining his anti-immigration rhetoric and spreading false theories about migrants, is also seeking to reach out to the Hispanic community. At recent events, he has appeared with Latin American artists and his campaign released a video with an adaptation of a Spanish salsa song, but with the lyrics “Kamala, how bad you are.”

A Pew Research Center poll conducted before the Sept. 10 debate showed Harris had gained ground among Latinos compared to a July survey: 57% of respondents favored her, nearly 20 points ahead of the 39% who favored Trump.

The Latino community in the United States stopped being homogeneous years ago, with different generations of origin. “There is a lot of diversity. If there is something similar in all groups, it would be the fact that the economy is the most important issue. Many have made the mistake of believing that for Latinos, migration is the most important issue. There is diversity in political philosophy, but the economy is a priority,” said Valentín.

An August survey published by Univision in collaboration with YouGov found that the most pressing issues among Latinos surveyed were inflation, employment and the economy, ahead of immigration policies. Reproductive rights and health care came next.

Castañeda, from Voto Latino, highlighted that almost 70% of the people who registered since July 21 through the campaign are women and that 67% of Hispanic women eligible to vote are of reproductive age. “It is one of the two most important issues for Latina women and it can be a mobilizing issue in states like Texas or Florida,” which have imposed restrictions on abortions, she added.