More than half of eligible Latinos voted in 2020, setting record

More than half of all eligible Latinos voted in the 2020 election, a historic number, according to a study from City University of New York.

Staff at the university determined that 53.7 percent of all eligible Latinos voted in the 2020 election. According to the study, that number had never before surpassed 50 percent.

In 2016, only 47.3 percent of eligible Latino voters cast ballots in the election.

About 18.7 million Latinos voted in the 2020 election, a large increase from the 15.3 million that cast ballots in 2016.

Those voters accounted for more than a tenth of all ballots cast in the election. Latinos made up 10.2 percent of all votes in November’s election, up from 9.2 percent in 2016.

The 2020 election also saw a historic rise in Latino voter registration, increasing to 61.1 percent of all eligible Latino citizens, an all-time high. In 2016, only 57.3 percent of eligible Latinos register to vote.

Turnout among registered Latino voters also reached a historic high. Of the Latinos registered to vote, nearly 88 percent cast ballots, up from 83.1 percent in 2016.

Although participation rates increased among Latino voters, the group’s voting rates still lagged behind non-Hispanic whites at 70.9 percent, African Americans at 62.6 percent and Asians at 59.7 percent.

Exit polls days after the 2020 election showed that former President Trump made inroads among some Latino voters, even as President Biden claimed a strong majority in key states.

The polls found that Biden secured 66 percent of the Latino vote, about the same as Hillary Clinton captured in 2016. 

Trump, however, earned 32 percent of the Latino vote, which was up 4 points from his performance in 2016. Additionally, Trump’s performance among Latinos was the highest share any Republican had won since former President George W. Bush won reelection in 2004.