Hispanics and the National Elections

After Election Day on November 7th, there is a lot to reflect upon for the whole country as well as for each one of us individually. For many there is a renewed sense of hope, of new beginnings. The challenge will be for everyone to actively work for a better future, starting with us and holding those in power responsible for their part.

Civic engagement and participation is responsibility of every member in society. One of the principles of the Catholic Social Teaching is the Call to Community and Participation. This helps us organize society in economic and political terms, which affect human dignity and the ability of people to grow and prosper. There is a lot weighing in our civic engagement, especially regarding decisions that affect a whole country, and even the world.

If you came out and voted or were somehow part of the process, kudos to you for getting involved.

For the Hispanic community, every election is an opportunity to show its increasing impact on political decisions nationally. And this year we could see more clearly the power that it has gained term over term. Analysts are seeing that, this time more than ever, the Hispanic vote has played a decisive role on the outcome of the elections, giving the Democrat Candidate over 70% of support.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, “Latino youth, just as all youth nationwide, supported [The Democrat candidate over the Republican], but did so by a wider margin—74% versus 23% for Latino youth compared with 60% versus 37% among all youth. [The Democrat candidate] won other Latino age groups by nearly as large a margin.”
Hispanic participation in the Elections has come a long way, yielding a record number of votes cast this year in the elections. However, the Pew Hispanic Center also reveals that “Hispanics comprise 17% of the total U.S. population but just 10% of all voters this year.” So yes, there was huge participation, yet it was below the expected levels.

But the good news is that our growth, engagement and participation do not end on Election Day. We can look ahead with hope as we work for a brighter future, for us and for our families. Part of this work is making sure that those around us can be fully engaged in their civic duties so that they can be full members of their communities.

This means, if someone you know and care about is a citizen, make sure they register to vote and make their voice heard. If there are any documented residents who are ready to apply for citizenship, encourage them to do so. If there are people you know who have time and talents to share, invite them to work with their community organizations to reach out and help their communities integrate and grow as the vital part that they are for this country.
Hispanic election numbers should give us great hope. That “Sleeping Giant” we’ve been talking about for so long finally seems to be waking up and making an impact. And Hispanic youth will play a huge role going forward on keeping this giant awake as they will be the main participants in future elections. But in order to make a deeper and more real impact, we need EVERYONE to participate and be part of the change.