According to a study by USA Today, Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about Mexicans, and his stated intention to construct a wall between the US and Mexico to stop illegal immigration has not resulted in the surge of Hispanic voter registrations in crucial swing states expected by some.
The study examined 50 counties with the biggest population of Hispanics in ten swing states. It found that, although voter registrations have increased during this year’s election cycle, the gains only mirror the increase in the general Hispanic population. They do not seem to represent a rush by Hispanics to vote against the Republican Presidential candidate. This had been expected by some Hispanics, and by the Democrats.
Voter rolls in the 50 counties studied increased by 3.8 percent in the countdown to the 2016 election. This compares to an increase of 2.5 percent during the election cycle in 2012. The increases are explained by the growth of the population – 2.7 percent in 2012 and 2.9 percent during the 2016 election period. The Hispanic legal immigrant population has also been growing with increasing speed, with a jump of almost ten percent since 2010.
The absence of any impact on Hispanic voter registrations by Trump is even clearer in the handful of states that provide specific data on Hispanic voter registration. The number of Hispanics in Florida registered to vote has increased by 14.4 percent this year, almost identical to the 14.4 percent rise before the election in 2012.