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SEATTLE — In partnership with Voter Participation Center and Voto Latino, Latino Decisions released their latest research on Latinos in 6-battleground states where Latinos will make a difference in the upcoming Presidential election between Vice President Biden and President Trump; Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arizona, and Florida. This is the first survey with a robust sample asking Latinos for their opinions on the recent Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin, a former police officer with the Minneapolis police department.
Albert Morales, Senior Political Director at Latino Decisions, said “The protests that erupted in Minneapolis and the outrage over the recent killing of Andrés Guardado in Los Angeles with five gunshots to his back, have touched Latinos across the country. This election presents an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen the coalition between the Black community and Latinos that will help change the direction of the country this coming November.”
Following are some of the key findings from the Battleground Survey:
- The Black Lives Matter protests jumped into the consciousness of Latinos. In our April survey, just 3% of Latinos we surveyed said criminal justice and police reform was an important issue. This survey shows a massive shift in Latino’s view of criminal justice and police, with 19% saying it is an important issue.
- At the height of the protests over the police murder of George Floyd, 67% of Latinos said that police violence is a big problem
- Despite the scare over COVID-19 and talk about expanding our election system to include more vote-by-mail, Latinos still prefer to vote in person on election day. However, those who have not voted by mail have low familiarity with the process to register for a mail ballot; just 42% of those surveyed said they have used an absentee or vote-by-mail ballot to cast their vote, and just 54% say their state has given them enough instructions to know how to request a mail ballot.
- Latinos were asked if the protestors had taken things too far with the burning of the police station. Overall, 53% of respondents put the responsibility of the property damage on the police actions, with variation across states like Florida, 47% blamed the protestors, and age (56% of Latinos age 65 and older also blame the protestors).
- Biden’s lead against Trump with a large 25% net positive approval (57% approve, 32% disapprove).
- President Trump’s toxic rhetoric is offensive even to Latino Republicans. The survey results show that 40% of Latino Republicans agreed that Trump and the Republicans use toxic rhetoric to divide us from one another.
About the Poll: Latino Decisions interviewed n=1,200 Latino adults eligible to vote in 6 states from June 7 – 19 via an online poll on their cell phones, computer, or tablet. Final data were compared to the Census ACS most recent estimates for Latino adults nationwide and weights were included to balance demographics for age, gender, education and state. Overall, the full sample contains a margin of error of +/-2.8%. State samples contain approximately 200 respondents from each state and have a margin of error of +/-6.9%.
For full results, click here.
