Latino Voters Project Electoral Strength Across the Nation
November 7, 2012
Contact: Paloma Zuleta
PZuleta@LULAC.org
Washington, DC – Yesterday’s historic Latino voter turnout demonstrated once and for all that the road to the White House goes through the heart of the Latino community. Today every pundit in America is expressing what LULAC has known for years—that a candidate must win a substantial share of the Latino vote in order to have a chance at winning the Presidency. According to exit polling done by Latino Decisions, President Obama received 75% of the Hispanic vote while Governor Romney managed just 23% and this 52 point margin was enough to put the President over the top in the popular vote and the electoral college. Before the election, LULAC and our partners had predicted that a record 12 million Latino voters would cast their ballots in the 2012 Presidential race and, based upon exist polling, our prediction has been validated.
In the battleground states Obama’s margin was even greater. According to Latino Decisions, Obama won 87% of the Latino vote in Colorado, 82% in Ohio, 80% in Nevada 77% in New Mexico, 66% in Virginia and 58% in Florida. These margins were large enough to be decisive in each of those states.
“We are thankful to our local councils and our LULAC volunteers which helped register and turnout Latino voters in 23 states,” said LULAC National President Margaret Moran. “I am proud of the hard work of LULAC volunteers, staff and a network of 123 local LULAC Councils who signed up to participate in our voter registration and get out the vote effort. Our Virginia & Nevada voter registration and GOTV campaign registered thousands of Hispanic voters and contacted thousands more which made a big difference in those razor close elections. This election will forever change the way candidates approach the Latino electorate."
LULAC hosted a Spanish-language Voter Protection Call Center out of our national office, in collaboration with NALEO and the National Latino Civic Engagement Table, which provided critical information to Latino voters who needed assistance to go to the polls. LULAC staff and volunteers also made thousands of phone calls into Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Nevada and Maryland and reminded voters of their polling locations to go vote, while using social media and PSAs to inform Latinos of the importance of voting.
LULAC also worked in conjunction with the Hispanic Federation and LCLAA to create the Movimiento Hispano campaign that was especially active in the swing states of Ohio and Florida. In Toledo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus the partnership registered hundreds of voters, while in central Florida, volunteers and paid staff mobilized tens of thousands of voters to go to the polls. These coordinated efforts helped overcome the significant obstacles Latino voters faced in this election, including voter identification laws, tighter restrictions on early voting, and politically motivated voter purges of naturalized citizens that affected more than 219,000 Latino voters in at least five states. Latinos demonstrated that we will not allow unethical politicians to take away our vote. To the contrary, our participation in the democratic process will keep on growing, year after year, election after election.
LULAC will now work with our members and the voters that we have registered to ensure that our elected leaders respond to critical needs of the Latino community including: comprehensive immigration reform, increased educational opportunity, affordable and high quality healthcare, and increased job opportunities for all.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 900 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org.
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