Weeks before the congressional and state elections in the United States, there is increased attention on Hispanic voters. The raw numbers justify this, 62.6 million Hispanics, or almost 19 percent of the total population, are the most numerous minority, after the non-Hispanic White majority. However, these numbers can also lead to overestimations, which makes necessary to look behind the raw numbers to appreciate the relative weight of Hispanic voters.
The following is based on 2020 election figures, released by the United States Bureau of the Census. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-585.html
Out of the total number of Hispanics in 2020, about half, 30.6 million were adult citizens eligible to vote, but only 18.7 million of them, (61 percent) were registered to do so. Also, only slightly more than half, 16.4 million (53.7 percent) of eligible Hispanic citizens, voted in the 2020 election. These figures on Hispanic voters’ contrast with those of electoral participation among non-Hispanic White citizens (70.9 percent) and among non-Hispanic Black citizens (62.6 percent). Therefore, a deliberate effort is required to increase the electoral participation of Hispanics. First, to persuade those that are eligible citizens to register and then to vote. Additionally, those who have not done so, but who are eligible, should also be persuaded to become citizens.
