Latinos Have Emerged as Ballot Trendsetters

By Maria Hinojosa, Latino USA

The Latino vote has been a big topic in this election cycle. So what was the proof in the pudding and in the polls? We get an overview of Latino turnout, the effects of voter ID laws and early voting, and other factors that influenced the Latino role in the presidential, congressional races and ballot initiatives of 2012.

GUESTS

Patricia Guadalupe is Supervising Producer and Fill-in Host for AARP Viva Radio, a daily, Spanish-language radio show that discusses a variety of issues of importance to the Latino community and broadcast on Sirius XM. She is a contributing editor to Latino Magazine and Hispanic Link News Service and is a former Washington correspondent for CBS Radio,Radio Bilingue and Latino USA. Raised in Puerto Rico, she is a graduate of Michigan State University and of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University.

Myrna Perez is a senior counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a legal research and advocacy organization at New York University. She also works on a variety of voting rights related issues, including redistricting, voter registration list maintenance, and access to the ballot box. Before joining the center, Ms. Pérez was the Civil Rights Fellow at Relman & Dane, a civil rights law firm in Washington, D.C.

This article was first published in Latino USA.

For 25 years, Maria Hinojosa has helped tell America’s untold stories and brought to light unsung heroes in America and abroad. In April 2010, Hinojosa launched The Futuro Media Group with the mission to produce multi-platform, community-based journalism that respects and celebrates the cultural richness of the American Experience. She is the first Latina to anchor a Frontline report. “Lost in Detention” about deportation and immigration detention aired in October 2011 and sparked public engagement and conversation from Capitol Hill to mainstream media to the Spanish language media. Hinojosa interviewed dozens of notable Latinos for Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ “The Latino List” which premiered on HBO in October 2011.