‘Trump effect’ may fuel Latino voting

*Thoughtful piece by Taquista Mercedes Olivera. A couple of take-aways: you can no longer blame Latino apathy as the entire reason they don’t vote, and it’s not really true that they don’t go to the polls. There are barriers, concerted efforts to make it hard and with all that an increasing number of Latino voters. VL

By Mercedes Olivera, The Dallas Morning News

It’s a common refrain, heard repeatedly before elections: “Latinos don’t vote.”

Increasingly, however, it appears the reverse may be true, according to a new study released by the William C. Velasquez Institute in San Antonio last week. And local elected Latino officials are seeing the same trend.

In the 2014 midterm elections, more than 1 million Latinos turned out to vote in Texas. That translates into 48 percent of Latino registered voters — a considerable percentage when their numbers had gone down by 300,000 since the 2012 elections.

In addition, total voter turnout in Texas and around the country was anemic — 28 percent in Texas, and 36 percent nationwide.

“Never have we seen such a stunning turnout when a state loses so many voters but still performs in the turnout better than in the last two midterm elections,” said LydiaCamarillo, vice president for the Southwest Voter Registration Project in San Antonio.

“The narrative that Latinos don’t vote is just not true,” she said.

Click HERE to read the full sotry.