North Carolina joins Nevada, Texas, Florida, in Early Vote Drubbing
As early voting wraps up in North Carolina and other key states, the Latino community has delivered a stinging rebuke of Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda in the most American way – with their vote.
According to data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Latinos in North Carolina exceeded their 2012 early vote numbers by an astronomical 86%, setting a record for Latino participation in the state.
The numbers also show that the surge in Latino turnout this year was matched by the surge in Latino voter registration. This year alone, 34,824 Latinos registered to vote, bringing the total number to 165,571 registered Latino voters, an increase of 46% over 2012.
According to Latino Decisions/America’s Voice’s polling of North Carolina Latino voters released on September 9, 2016 found that:
76% of respondents said they were absolutely certain to vote in this election.
48% said the most important issue facing the Latino community that Congress and the President should address is immigration (Jobs ranked second at 35%)
Donald Trump had an unfavorable rating of 81% with NC Latino voters (71% very unfavorable).
In a head-to-head race, Hillary Clinton was beating Trump by a margin of 73/14.
76% of respondents said Donald Trump had made the Republican Party more hostile to Latinos.
67% of respondents said Donald Trump’s views on immigrants and immigration made them much less likely to vote for Republican candidates.
The long term implications of these numbers will be disastrous given the demographic changes in the state. In a recent study by NALEO, 39% of Latino voters in the state are millennials under the age of 30 and 60% are under the age of 40.
“After a year and a half of stomping on the dignity and sacrifices of millions of Latino families and denying their role in and contribution to American society, it is Latino voters who have built a wall between Donald Trump and the White House,” said Tim Eakins, Director of North Carolina’s Voice. “Just as Prop 187 galvanized a generation of Latinos in California to abandon the Republican Party and turn that state solidly blue, Donald Trump is ushering in the same effect in states across the country that could spell the end of the Republican Party, if they do not get right with Latinos and their core issue: immigration.”
