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Latinos Vote Hit One Million in Texas
Follow Up Analysis Shows Increased Bush Support

San Antonio, TX - A turnout study conducted by the William C. Velásquez Institute (WCVI) showed Latinos cast a record number of ballots in the 2000 General Election. Latinos cast over 1 million votes in the 2000 election, an increase of 21,000 votes or 2.1% over the '96 elections. Latinos also represented a 15.4% of the total votes cast in Texas.

Support for George Bush among all voters and the absence of significant campaigning by Al Gore translated into a decrease in voter participation throughout the state. Preliminary voter turnout projections indicate 51.4% of Latinos cast their votes.

A follow-up analysis of election-day reported results of the WCVI exit survey of 957 Latino voters throughout the state of Texas, revealed that presidential preference was 65.4% for Al Gore/Joseph Lieberman and 34.6% for George W. Bush/Dick Cheney, and 0.1% for the third party candidates, Ralph Nader and Patrick Buchanan. This total is far short of the majority support for Bush predicted by many observers.

The increased support for George W. Bush did not translate into a substantial increase in support for congressional candidates. Latino voters indicated 72.6% preference for Democratic candidates to 27.4% for Republicans. These numbers are a slight decrease from the 84.3% and 13.6% support received by Democrats and Republican congressional candidates respectively in '96.

The William C. Velásquez Institute conducted an exit poll and turnout study to measure how Latinos voted during the November 2000 presidential elections. Trained pollsters in both English and Spanish interviewed 957 Latino voters in 32 Texas precincts. The sample was designed to cover 90% of all Latino voters in the state. Precincts from 5% to 100% of registered Latino voters were included in the sample. The design is a stratified, two-stage, probability-based sample. Precincts were included in the universe if they met minimum levels with respect to number and percentage of Latino voters. Precincts were than stratified by geography and percent Latino voter population. The results were weighted for a more exact estimate of total Latino turnout in Texas. The margin of error for this study is plus-minus 3.2%.