New research sugg
ests Latino and youth voters have increased in this election compared to 2012. Youth, Latinos, and Asian Americans continue to be underrepresented in elections overall but it seems that the circumstances of the 2016 election may increase the voter turnout. More than one in five voters casting a ballot in the California primary election 2016 were Latino voters.
“Well of course the turnout is higher than before, they’re facing a man that’s totally against them,” said Enrique Ruz, a student studying political science at the Sacramento State University. “It’s a scary thought that all they could do is vote to save themselves from many future troubles.”
Higher turnout in youth voters in the 2016 California Primary election means they compromised around 7.5% of all ballots. That’s more than double seen in the previous primary and the highest in the twelve year period spent examining the study. Latino registered turnout also increased in 2016’s California primary to 38.7%, up to 22 percentage points from the 2012 presidential primary.
“Minorities in general tend not to vote until Election Day,” said Jose Dante Parra, a democratic strategist. “The fact that people are turning out earlier tells you that people are more attuned to the election and everything that’s happening.”
Accesslocal.tv reached out to a first-time voter in California to get his thoughts on the upcoming election on November 8th.
“Since this is my first time voting, I like to think that my vote matters and could change the outcome of the election,” said Giovanni Barajas when asked about how he feels as a first time voter. “I think (the) Latino vote is a lot higher this time around because they’re facing someone who could affect them extremely, especially for someone like myself.”
Since now there is a significant surge in Latino and young voters in the California primary elections,we may very well expect a larger number of Latino and young voters in the Presidential election. Like the rest of the country, we’ll have to wait and see the results on November 8th.
Hi Ivan, I am the old lady who talked to you after the” yes on prop 61″ event today with Bernie. I hope you post something about it here and some of your photos. I told a couple other people about you and told them to check here for more on the event.
Hi, It’s Ivan! I am not too sure if I am allowed to post anything from the event to the website. That has to go through my boss. But I will definitely post pictures and a story on my Instagram which is (@photo.soull) I know you told me that it’s a bit difficult for you to know your way around new social media. But if you could somehow work your way into finding my Instagram, you’d find a lot from the Bernie event.