Is Voter Registration Among Latinos, Blacks Up Or Down?

Has voter registration among Latinos and African-Americans gone up or down since the 2008 election?

Considering how important these two voting blocks will be to the presidential candidates come November, the issue has become a source of debate.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that the number of black and Latino eligible voters is lagging under the headline, “Voter registration down among Hispanics, blacks.” On Monday, the Obama campaign's Director of Constituency Press, Clo Ewing, struck back on the organization's BarackObama.com blog.

“The analysis on which The Post based its mistaken claim is fundamentally flawed in several ways,” Ewing said.

The data cited by The Post is an outdated measure of voter registration and that “registration among Latinos and African Americans has never been higher," Ewing wrote. "There are more Americans of both backgrounds registered to vote today than there were when President Obama was elected.”

In March, The Huffington Post reported on the decline of registered Hispanic voters in 2010 citing a recent report by the William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI). The institute is a non-profit and nonpartisan Latino research and advocacy group, that analyzed voting and registration data gathered by the Census Bureau between 1972 and 2010. Among their findings: “for the second “post-presidential cycle” in a row, Latino voter registration declined nationally” and declined 5 percent during 2009-10.

An absolute conclusion can't be reached, according to Byron Tau of The Politico 44 Blog.

“Each state has its own voter registration rules — it's hard to get a clear national picture," Tau wrote. "Independent data has confirmed that youth voter registration has eroded in key states for Obama — but many states do not necessarily collect the same data for ethnic and racial groups.”

Related on HuffPost:

Comments

[mangez merde]

01:40 AM on 05/10/2012

The GOP stripped over 5 million legally registered names in the 2008 election.

500,000 in Georgia alone.

The GOP state election commissioner went down the voter registry and flagged every name that sounded black or Hispanic.

If your name was Jose or Shanequa you were removed from the voting registry.

The "Help America To Vote Act" of 2002 should have been titled "How to Keep Blacks and Hispanics To Vote Act".

P.S. Before any conservative starts posting drivel about ACORN, acorn was guilty of nothing.

[consultclaims1]

11:37 PM on 01/26/2013

blah blah blah blah blah

[Angie Daniels]

06:42 PM on 05/09/2012

And if we were registered the last time (and every time since I turned 18) then it's not like they need to record those folks either.

[maryfred]

11:52 AM on 05/09/2012

NEWS FLASH TO ALL: willard just stated and I quote, "yeah, I take the credit for the auto industry's successful come back." Next he'll be taking the credit away from our Navy Seals for killing bin laden. This manegan is a piece of work.

[openvisions55]

10:16 AM on 05/09/2012

Two big court cases over voter fraud going on right now in Maryland. Where Republicans called voters to tell them that everything was ok and the next step was to sit back the democrates had won. Polls were still open and republicans were losing. The republicans did not win seats in the house. Voter fraud is in every GOP state. Ohio had the same problem,where the house speaker is from. Robo calls come to your house, do not listen. Get out and vote.

[Sane Centrist]

12:33 PM on 05/08/2012

I realize a lot of your are feeling like some of the wind has left your sails, I know that some of you feel like your vote won’t matter and that it won’t change anything.

What you have to realize is that “your” vote helped to get the first person of color into the Whitehouse. Your vote didn’t exclusively get him into the Whitehouse the way the right-wing media claims or that he’s just a “celebrity” president that rode in on a wave of popularity – but you did help to make a difference.

“We” have been fighting the good fight for generations, and “we” need to keep this momentum going. 2010 saw the house and d@mn near the senate flip because many of “you” stayed home.

You all got complacent, and you felt like you did your part in 2008 & your job was over. “Your” job just began in 2008, and you needed to show up for work again in 2010, and we’re all partly in the mess we’re in because many of you didn’t show up for work that fateful day in 2010.

Take the 30 minutes it takes & go register to vote if you’re not already registered, and show up with whatever I.D. you have on voting day and VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!

Elections have consequences people, and “our” people need to have more skin in the game to change the music that’s been played over the last 500 years…..

[maryfred]

11:25 AM on 05/09/2012

Your comments are right on! By not voting-we are voting against our own interest. I'm hoping that the GOP continue their blatant lying ways, so that even an animal such as my Terrier can see the difference:)

[Angie Daniels]

06:48 PM on 05/09/2012

Dogs are pretty smart. It's the bigots we have to worry about.

[project cooper]

10:27 PM on 05/07/2012

Maybe they still be waiting for their Obama bucks first.

[White Diamond]

01:05 AM on 05/08/2012

Bet on it. Fanned.

[maryfred]

11:27 AM on 05/09/2012

Are you really an English major or did someone else open your HP account for you??

[Badger33]

10:05 PM on 05/07/2012

If you are Black and your state has a GOP governor or secretary of state, contact your county/parish election office to make sure you are eligible to vote and, if not, what you need to do to get there. Determine whether there are sufficient, accessible polling places located in your district. Fascists want to tax you, yet deny you the right to vote. Don't listen to robo-calls telling you November 7th is election day. Raise hell.

[plumtree218]

02:02 AM on 05/08/2012

The same thing should apply to democrats, republicans are not the only ones being denied the opportunity to vote!

[amaboss52]

12:57 PM on 05/08/2012

LOL! FAIL!

[maryfred]

11:32 AM on 05/09/2012

Oh really? The democrats are NOT the the party who seems to believe that there is wide spread voter fraud. That is a made up teaparty exclusive. You can't pass that on to democrats. And if anyone's voting for the tanned manegan...then who cares??

[whitechick1988]

09:21 PM on 05/07/2012

Are you serious...last time I checked both blacks and latinos have the right to vote just like everyone else....if they have failed to do so or havent to this date....why should they now just because of race....really....come on people....decide if you want to have unity or separation but your cant have it both ways.

[PrunellaC]

11:32 PM on 05/07/2012

In view of all the redistricting and ID requirements being enacted, what's wrong with verifying one's status and polling place?

[allenglen6]

07:53 AM on 05/08/2012

the big brother trick ID Requirement just a slick way to get the national Id card issue, also big brother has a new way to get you the police cars are starting to go very high tech some states police cars are able to snap hundreds of car tags a day in all directions and feed the info into the data base, for crime I understand this but all cars its not right, the Patriot act took all freedom away

[Ferrante Eric Fotografie]

04:29 PM on 05/08/2012

Since when ?

[john rajah]

06:37 PM on 05/07/2012

Why would any Latino vote for Romney/GOP?

Why would any woman?

Why would anyone who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus?

[actualize3]

11:26 PM on 05/07/2012

Amen!

[allenglen6]

07:56 AM on 05/08/2012

Its not that he follow Jesus, Im happy for him I think we all should be more Christ like hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Now listen to some of the things Romney says and look at some of the things Romney has done have they been Christ like. I'm just saying.

[nancy1113]

10:05 AM on 05/08/2012

Like hiding his money in different countries so it wont be taxed , turning over companys so the buisness makes alot of money and the little guy lose his job, wanting to force poor stay at home moms back to work or lose thier food stamps, because only rich moms should be with their children? ............ etc.

[john rajah]

05:46 PM on 05/08/2012

"I am not concerned about the very poor"