GALEO Releases Report “2016: The Latino Electorate in Georgia Continues To Grow and To Vote”
GALEO Releases Report “2016: The Latino Electorate in Georgia Continues To Grow and To Vote”
Latina voters lead the voter participation with record-breaking turnout
Press Release
July 6, 2017
(ATLANTA, GEORGIA) July 6, 2017 – GALEO & the GALEO Latino Community Development Fund released the third report highlighting the 2016 growth and engagement of the Latino electorate in Georgia. In partnership with the NALEO Educational Fund and with Trey Hood, Ph.D., University of Georgia’s Department of Political Science, GALEO compiled the most recently updated and comprehensive analysis of the Latino electorate in Georgia.
“The Latino vote in Georgia continues to grow at double digit rates and is outpacing national Latino voter participation for the 2016 election. In fact, Latinas lead the way in November 2016 with a 73% voter participation rate. As the state continues to grow, the Latino electorate and its influence in the outcomes of elections also continues to grow,” said Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director of GALEO.
Some of the key findings are highlighted below:
The Latino electorate is now 244,190 voters strong and had a statewide voter participation rate of 53.3%. Nationally, the Latino voter participation rate was on ly 47%.
Latinas dominated voter participation rates with 73% casting ballots in 2016. Nationally, for all women, the voter participation rate was 63% while for Latinas it was 50% nationwide.
Since 2012 election, the Latino electorate added 60,224 new registered voters, accounting for 25% growth.
Report highlights voter registration and voter participation in the following jurisdictions:
Counties
The Cities of Gainesville and Dalton
Congressional Districts
State Senate Legislative Districts
State House Legislative Districts
43,402 more Latino voters participated in the 2016 election as compared to the 2012 election, accounting for a growth rate of 33%.
The majority of Latino voters in Georgia are between the ages of 18-40, representing a young electorate.
53% of the Latino electorate registered to vote between the period of 2011-2016.
The 6th Congressional District had a Latino voter participation rate of 60%, while the 7th Congressional District had a 57.9% Latino voter participation rate.
Gwinnett County alone accounted for 18% of the state’s Latino electorate and are 10% of the total electorate in the county. Latinos in Gwinnett had a high voter participation rate of 57%.
In Hall County, Latino voters account for 11% of the electorate and saw Latino voter participation rates of 48.4%, which is a significant increase from the 2012 election Latino voter participation rate of 36.9%.
In the City of Gainesville, the Latino electorate nearly doubledand saw significant increase in Latino voter participation rate (11.3%) from the 2012 election. (2012-30.8%; 2016-42.1%).
Whitfield County has the highest share of the electorate where Latinos hold 18.11% of the total electorate.
GALEO & the GALEO LCDF had active non-partisan voter engagement efforts across the state, but focused on DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, Hall and Whitfield Counties.
Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, Monthly Breakfast Series, “The Latino vote in Georgia
in the 2016 election,” presented by Jerry Gonzalez, Executive Director, GALEO, July 27, 2017.
