PRFAA: Exceptionally High Percentage of First-time Puerto Rican Voters.

The Hispanic electorate’s growing political influence was underscored this year by a significant increase in attention from both Democrats and Republicans prior to the 2002 midterm elections; an exit poll released by the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA) demonstrates that Hispanics and Puerto Ricans will turn out to vote in large numbers when effectively empowered and motivated.

PRFAA’s exit poll, conducted at the culmination of the first year of a grass-roots driven and media-supported voter registration and mobilization effort, found that 15% of Puerto Ricans who cast ballots in the November 5 mid-term elections were first-time voters. This change represents a nearly 70% increase from the 9% of Hispanic first-time voters in the 2000 general election as reported by Voter News Services (VNS).

The 775 exit poll respondents consisted of voters in New York City, Chicago, Orlando and Homestead, Florida which constitute a statistically representative sample of the Puerto Rican electorate throughout the United States. Bendixen & Associates, the nationally-recognized Hispanic pollster who administered the poll, estimates that 75,000 Puerto Ricans voted for the first time in the November 5th election.

“Governor Calderón is ecstatic about the increased number of Puerto Rican voters that showed up and voiced their opinions at the polls on Tuesday,” said Mari Carmen Aponte, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration and leader of the Calderón Administration’s national voter registration and mobilization effort which registered over 70,000 new voters between July and November.

The exit polling sample was the largest Hispanic exit poll conducted nationwide this year and confirms the effectiveness of the “¡Que Nada Nos Detenga!” (Let Nothing Stop Us!) campaign, a non-partisan voter education effort led by Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Governor Sila M. Calderón and implemented through the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA) and its partners, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO).

“The exceptionally high number of first time voters, especially for a mid-term election, leads me to conclude that Governor Calderón’s voter registration drive has energized Puerto Rican voters nationwide,” says Sergio Bendixen, who administered the poll.

Impact of the Voter Registration and Motivation Campaign

The extensive grass-roots and media education effort launched in July had great impact in registering the Puerto Rican community to vote and turning them out to the polls on election day. Eighty-seven percent of the Puerto Rican voters interviewed reported having watched a television commercial or having listened to a radio commercial or having seen an outdoor billboard of the Que Nada Nos Detenga voter registration and voter participation campaign sponsored by PRFAA. Eighty percent of Puerto Rican voters also indicated that they had seen an ad in a local newspaper or had received a direct mail letter, a telephone call or a home visit from the program’s organizers.

Issues of Importance to Puerto Rican Voters
At a time when the Hispanic vote continues to grow in influence, Puerto Rican voters cited jobs and the economy as their number one issue in the mid-term election. 46% said it was the most important issue, while 22% chose the quality of public education. Only 11% of respondents viewed the war on terrorism as a major concern in contrast to the general electorate who ranked the issue almost equal with concerns about the economy.

The other issues on the Puerto Rican agenda were access to health care (11%), fighting crime (5%) and protecting the environment (2%).

Puerto Ricans revealed a nearly unanimous consensus on the importance of participating in the political process. 96% of respondents said it was very important to “participate in the political process and in the election,” and 87% reported that issues that “impact and affect Puerto Rico” are very important to them.

“The Puerto Rican community let their voices be heard-loud and clear! And with voter registration efforts picking up again in a few months, our voice will only continue to grow,” Aponte enthused.

“This program has always been about unity, pride and empowerment for both Puerto Ricans on the mainland and on the Island,” Aponte added as 54% of Puerto Rican voters indicated that one of the major reasons they participated in the November 5th election was that “the Puerto Rican community will benefit.”

In addition, 33% reported that “my vote helps Puerto Rico” as a motivating factor for their participation in the electoral process. In all, 87% of Puerto Rican voters drew a link between their vote and the assistance that vote could provide.

About the Poll
The analysis and results in this executive summary are based on 775 interviews with Puerto Rican voters who participated in the November 5th election. Respondents were interviewed in English and Spanish in 15 precincts in New York City (5), Chicago (5), Orlando (4) and Homestead, Florida (1). The sample was designed to be representative of the Puerto Rican electorate in the United States. The exit poll was conducted by Bendixen & Associates, a Miami public opinion research company, as part of its contract with the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA). The margin of error for the full sample of the study is three percentage points.

About the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA)
PRFAA, which serves as the mainland offices of the Governor of Puerto Rico, operates nine regional community outreach offices in Boston, Chicago, Hartford, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Miami and Orlando and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The agency also recently opened four additional satellite offices in Los Angeles, Houston, Cleveland, and Springfield, Mass. to expand community outreach and empowerment activities even further.

For more information at http://www.prfaa.com