---
title: "Hispanics punch below their weight in midterm elections"
description: "Hispanics have voted in record numbers in recent years, but their turnout rate continues to lag behind whites and blacks, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census data."
date: "2014-04-02"
authors:
  - name: "Jens Manuel Krogstad"
    job_title: "Former Senior Writer and Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jens-manuel-krogstad/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/04/02/hispanics-punch-below-their-weight-in-midterm-elections/"
categories:
  - "Demographics & Politics"
  - "Hispanic/Latino Voters"
  - "Voter Demographics"
---

# Hispanics punch below their weight in midterm elections

[![FT_voter-turnout-midterms-by-race](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/04/FT_voter-turnout-midterms-by-race.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/04/FT_voter-turnout-midterms-by-race.png)

Hispanics have voted in record numbers in recent years, but their turnout rate continues to lag behind whites and blacks, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census data.

Hispanics today make up 11.3% of all eligible voters. But voter turnout among Hispanics has not kept pace with the growing number of eligible voters in recent national elections. In 2010, [Hispanics cast a record 6.6 million ballots](https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2011/04/26/the-latino-electorate-in-2010-more-voters-more-non-voters/) out of 21.3 million eligible voters, a turnout rate of 31.2%. But that was still far below the turnout among black voters (44%) and white voters (48.6%).

A record 24.8 million Hispanics are eligible to vote in 2014, according to February Census figures, up from 21.3 million in 2010.

Some suggest that [Hispanics might stay home on Election Day this year](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/us/hopes-frustrated-many-latinos-reject-the-ballot-box-altogether.html?_r=1) out of dissatisfaction with the president over immigration policy, while [others predict Latinos will turn out](http://voxxi.com/2014/03/31/latino-voters-turnout-midterm-elections/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=JR) in record numbers. As groups [push to register Hispanic voters](http://news.yahoo.com/u-latino-groups-launch-voter-registration-drive-001446425.html) in advance of this fall’s midterm elections, [frustration has mounted](http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/03/29/296290027/activists-we-want-an-emancipator-not-a-deporter-in-chief) over stalled immigration reform in Congress and the continued deportation of unauthorized immigrants under President Obama. Support for the president among Hispanics [has eroded since September 2013](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/03/27/support-for-obama-health-care-law-has-eroded-among-hispanics/), according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

A low voter turnout rate among Hispanics stretches back several midterm elections. Since 1986, the turnout rate has [dropped from 38% to 31.2%](https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2011/04/26/ii-dissecting-the-2010-electorate/) in 2010. The gap in turnout rates between whites and Hispanics has increased from 12.7 to 17.4 percentage points over the same time period.

Nevertheless, Hispanics made up a larger share of the electorate in 2010 than in any previous midterm election, representing 6.9% of all voters, up from 5.8% in 2006. In 2010 House races, Hispanics favored Democrats over Republicans [by 60% to 38%](https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2010/11/03/the-latino-vote-in-the-2010-elections/).

Voter turnout rates in 2010 varied among Hispanics. College graduates had the highest turnout rate (50.3%), and young people under 30 were least likely to vote (17.6%). Nearly half (49.3%) of Cuban-origin Hispanics voted, compared with just 28.7% of Mexican-origin Hispanics. Some 800,000 Hispanics—the vast majority U.S. born—turn 18 each year, a demographic wave that’s projected to [double the Hispanic electorate by 2030](https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2012/11/14/an-awakened-giant-the-hispanic-electorate-is-likely-to-double-by-2030/).

The relative youth of the Hispanic electorate has helped drive down the group’s overall turnout. In 2010, 31% of Hispanic eligible voters were under 30. By contrast, 19% of white, 26% of black and 21% of Asian eligible voters were under 30. People give similar reasons for not voting, regardless of race or ethnicity. Among registered voters who didn’t vote in 2010, one-in-four Hispanics chose “too busy, conflicting work or school schedule” as the reason they did not cast a ballot. About the same percentage of non-voters overall chose the same reason. Nearly twice as many Hispanics as non-voters overall said they forgot to vote, 13.3% to 7.5%.