Latino voters are less likely than all U.S. voters to say they are extremely motivated to vote in the upcoming presidential election, with the Latino electorate expressing less interest overall in the presidential campaigns, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 5.

About half of Latino voters say they are ‘extremely motivated’ to vote for president in 2020

About half of Latino registered voters (54%) say they are extremely motivated to vote this year, compared with two-thirds of U.S. voters overall (69%). Meanwhile, a lower share of Latino voters (58%) than U.S. voters (69%) say they have given a lot of thought to the candidates. And compared with U.S. voters, a slightly lower share of Latino voters say it really matters who wins, 73% vs. 78%. In 2016, Latino voters also reported lower levels of interest in the election and in voting than U.S. voters overall.

A record 32 million Hispanics are projected to be eligible to vote in 2020, making up 13% of all U.S. eligible voters and exceeding for the first time the number of Black eligible voters in a presidential election. (Explore our interactive maps and tables to see Latino eligible voters by state and congressional district.)

How we did this

To explore Hispanic voter engagement in this year’s presidential election, we surveyed 11,929 U.S. adults, including 1,347 Hispanic registered voters, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, 2020. Everyone who took part is a member of Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology.

Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

A record number of Americans have voted before Election Day, and it is possible overall U.S. voter turnout will reach historically high levels in 2020. Latinos have typically voted at lower rates than U.S. voters overall. In 2016, 48% of Latino eligible voters said they voted, a similar share to 2012 and lower than the 61% of all U.S. eligible voters who cast a ballot four years ago. (Eligible voters are adult U.S. citizens, whether registered to vote or not.)

Interest in 2020 presidential election is lower among Latino voters than U.S. voters overall

Engagement varies among some groups of Hispanics who are registered to vote. College graduates are more likely than those with some college education or less to say they are extremely motivated to vote (68% vs. 50%), have given a lot of thought to the presidential candidates (71% vs. 54%) and that it really matters who wins (80% vs. 71%).

Higher shares of Latino registered voters ages 50 and older than those 18 to 49 are extremely motivated to vote (65% vs. 48%), have given a lot of thought to the presidential candidates (68% vs. 52%) and say it really matters who wins (80% vs. 68%). These differences by age are also seen among all U.S. voters.

Note: Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.

Jens Manuel Krogstad  is a senior writer and editor at Pew Research Center.
Mark Hugo Lopez  is director of race and ethnicity research at Pew Research Center.