The growth of the U.S. Hispanic-Latino population is something to boast about, but the same cannot be said for the group’s electorate sway despite milestones reached in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n
According to certified voter turnout data<\/a> by Univision in partnership with Labels and Lists (L2), the group’s national voter participation grew by nearly 30 percent from 2016 to 2020, with more than 16 million Hispanic-Latinos casting a ballot in last year’s presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n More members of the community voting might seem positive at first glance, but not when measured to their eligible voters (approximately 32 million in 2020), and not when compared to the performance of other racial and ethnic groups over the same time period.<\/p>\n\n\n Connecticut does not track the race of voters but one indicator, however, is a U.S. Census survey of voter participation taken after the 2014 election. This study found about 30 percent of \u201celigible\u201d Hispanic-Latino voters in the state cast ballots compared to the state turnout of 55.6 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n Another way to gauge participation is to look at the overall turnout in the places with the largest Hispanic-Latino population. For example, in 2020, when the Connecticut turnout was a landmark 79.95 percent, in Hartford, where Hispanics-Latinos comprised the most significant percentage of the group\u2019s population, the turnout was the state\u2019s lowest at 50 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n As part of the Advancing Democracy: Connecticut Solutions Journalism Initiative, <\/em>a six-month program<\/a> sponsored by the Solutions Journalism Network<\/a> (SJN), <\/em>CT Latino News (CTLN)<\/a>, spoke with Mark Hugo Lopez<\/a>, Director of Hispanic Research at the Pew Research Center<\/a>, to take a look at some of the problems facing Hispanics-Latinos in participating in the electoral process, by the numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n Hispanic-Latino Voters Are Young<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n
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