LatinaLista — Twelve states will hold Super Tuesday caucuses and primary elections today — Alabama, Alaska Republican Caucus, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice:
Since the 2010 election, 21 states have new laws in place making it harder to vote — and voters in 16 states face new restrictions for the first time in a presidential election in 2016. Meanwhile, 23 states plus the District of Columbia have passed laws improving voting since 2012.
In two of the twelve states — Texas and Colorado — Latino voters could play a decisive role in these states’ primary elections.
To help Latino voters know their voting rights, where to go to vote, what paperwork they need to show and to report any challenges to exercising their civic right, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) created a bilingual, toll-free hotline.
Available from 8 am-9 pm on Super Tuesday, 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682) puts callers in touch with bilingual operators, from whom callers will get assistance in understanding the electoral process and receive help filing a claim for any problems they may encounter at the polls.
Since from among the 12 states voting today, Colorado and Texas have significant Latino populations, NALEO has created an enlightening snapshot of Latino voters in these states.
Colorado (Full Latino primary profile available here)
Election 2016: More than 277,500 Latinos are expected to cast ballots in November.* This would mark a 7.1 percent increase in turnout and 5.6 percent decrease in the Latino share of the vote from 2012.
Election 2012: Approximately 259,000 Latinos voted, an increase of 64,000 voters – or 32.8 percent – from November 2008. The Latino share of the vote grew from 8.5 percent in 2008 to 10.4 percent in 2012.
Voter Turnout Trends: Latino voter turnout in Colorado Presidential elections doubled between 1996 and 2012, growing from 129,000 to 259,000, an increase of 101 percent.
Electoral College Votes: Nine
Latino Population: More than 1.1 million Latinos reside in Colorado (2014), comprising 21 percent of the total population.
Latino Electorate: There are more than 360,000 Latino registered voters in the state, accounting for one of every 10 Colorado registered voters (as of December 2015).
Texas (Full primary profile available here)
Election 2016: More than 2,088,500 Latinos are expected to cast ballots in November.* This would mark a 10.5 percent increase in turnout and 2.1 percent increase in the Latino share of the vote from 2012.
Election 2012: Approximately 1,890,000 Latinos voted, an increase of 193,000 voters – or 11.4 percent- from November 2008. The Latino share of the vote grew from 20.1 percent in 2008 to 21.9 percent in 2012.
Voter Turnout Trends: Latino voter turnout in Texas Presidential elections grew from 1,060,000 in 1996 to 1,890,000 in 2012, an increase of 78 percent.
Electoral College Votes: 38
Latino Population: More than 10.4 million Latinos reside in Texas (2014), comprising 39 percent of the total population.
Latino Electorate: There are more than 3.2 million Latino registered voters in the state, accounting for nearly one of every four Texas registered voters (23 percent) is Latino (as of October 2015).
