Post-Election Survey provides In-Depth analysis of Latino Vote.

A new post-election analysis of record turnout among Latino voters shows strong support for President-elect Obama and Democrats, but also reveals high expectations in the Latino community. The survey, commissioned by ImpreMedia in conjunction with the NALEO Educational Fund and Latino Decisions polling firm, found a significant increase in turnout among registered Latinos. Ninety-two percent of registered Latinos surveyed in the poll said they voted in this
election, compared to 81.5% in 2004, the percentage cited in the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

“The record turnout among Latinos solidifies this emerging electorate as an important voting bloc among U.S. voters,” said Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the NALEO Educational Fund. “The survey also finds that naturalized immigrant voters and first time voters played a significant role in shaping the Latino vote. However, the Democratic Party should heed the message of Latino voters in our survey: with their strong support of President-elect Obama and his party, come high expectations,” Vargas concluded.

Key Findings

— Naturalized Immigrant voters comprised a sizeable share of the Latino vote in this election. Nearly half (46%) of Latino voters were born outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico. Additionally, new voters were a significant force in shaping the Latino vote this election. One of every six Latino voters (15%) was voting for the first time.

— Latino support for President-elect Obama may have been higher than initially reported in exit poll data. Among all Latino voters, 72% said they voted for Obama while 25% said they voted for Senator McCain. Second generation, children of immigrants and Spanish-speakers showed the strongest support for Obama (80%). Among the third generation, about one-third voted for Senator McCain (34%).

— More than two-thirds of Latino voters (67%) in the November 4th Presidential Election say fixing the economy is the most important issue they expect the new President and Congress to address when they take office in January. The economy ranked far above other issues, including Health Care (5%), Immigration (6%), and the War in Iraq (6%).

— Expectations are still high when it comes to dealing with immigration reform. Overall, 68% of voters say that it is extremely important (41%) or very important (27%) for the immigration issue to be addressed within the first year of the new Obama Administration.

— Strong support for the President-elect and the new Democratic-majority in Congress comes with high expectations from Latinos. Nearly 70% of Latino voters expect the Latino community to see improvements under the new Obama Administration. These hopes are even higher among immigrant voters with 3 out of every 4 expecting something better.

“These survey results provide a clear roadmap for the new Administration as the Latino electorate spoke loudly in this election and articulated its priorities,” said Monica Lozano, Senior Vice President of Newspapers for ImpreMedia. “ImpreMedia is honored to work in conjunction with Latino Decisions and hopes that our elected policymakers are responsive to these priorities as they develop their agenda.”

For this survey, Latino Decisions interviewed 800 Latino registered voters from November 7 – 14, in the 21 states with the largest Latino voter populations, and accounting for 93% of the Latino electorate. Overall, the survey carries a 3.5% margin of error and is meant to be nationally representative of the Latino electorate.