The results of a bilingual telephone survey completed by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests that Hispanic voters may be skipping out on midterm elections over Arizona’s immigration reform bill, SB 1070.
The poll found that more Hispanic Republicans will be voting than Hispanic Democrats, but according to the survey, 65 percent of the registered Latino voters prefer the Democratic Party.
So what gives?
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, one-third of Latino voters have given the November election any thought.
This may come as a shock, given the stir SB 1070 has caused, but the survey suggests that immigration is only something that 31 percent of Latino voters find “extremely important.” This comes in just over half of those who find education an extremely important issue (58 percent).
Unfortunately low turnout in this community, and many others, isn’t new. Though there seems to be a strong energy in politics this year, it’s hard to say with any certainty that turnout will increase.
In spite of the increased attention Congress has received in the last year, it seems voter turnout will indicate the same sense of apathy that we’ve seen in the past.
Like in a game of tug-of-war, the enthusiasm we saw resisting SB 1070 is beginning to get rope burn. No matter your stance on the immigration law, it’s strange to see one side sighing with disillusionment while the other side reins in the rope.
There are plenty of campaigns trying to mobilize the Latino vote, but expected turnout is trailing overall turnout by 20 percent in most categories, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
The Gallup polls in late August found that Republicans were 10 percent more likely to come out and vote than Democrats, but the numbers have stabilized since, with the estimates being 46 and 43, respectively. So, there’s no reason that an equal representation of views could not be heard.
We’ve seen a commendable push this year by our student leaders to increase voter registration among students — a group also notorious for staying home on Election Day. The Arizona Student Vote Coalition registered more than 1,800 ASU students to vote, but registration is only half the battle. Now we have to continue the push to get people to the polls.
While abstinence is just as much an exercise of your rights on Election Day (you shouldn’t have to choose for a “lesser evil” if you don’t want to), voting is an important way to show you’re not just holding your tongue when things go downhill.
Not voting hurts the nation in the long run. Becoming disillusioned with the system only gives you less power and leads to an even more lethargic state of the union. The checks and balances of this nation theoretically rely on the involvement of our citizens. If elected officials and public affairs aren’t inspiration enough to get you to the polls, what makes you think you’re inspiring them to work for you?
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