Communities of color mobilized during the midterm elections to make sure their voice counted at the polls, and Latino voters in particular sent the message to the parties that they are tired of extremism and need to stop it. They also helped prevent the (Republican) red wave that pollsters had predicted.
During the video conference: “Various perspectives on women and ethnic votes, access to Voter and Redistricting“, hosted by Ethnic Media Services, Several experts analyzed voting trends among Latinos, African Americans, and members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
Who are the voters who stopped the red wave (republican)?
Sergio I. García-Rios, assistant professor and deputy director of the Center for The University of Texas at Austin Race and Democracy Study said that in every midterm election, the party that occupies the White House loses votes.
“This is a natural tendency with few exceptions. We also have a president who is very unpopular, an economy that is struggling, and together with inflation and lack of access, they formed a perfect combination that made us think of a red wave.”
He pointed out that the Univision polls showed that everyone was worried about the state of their lives beyond the economy, what many experts didn’t anticipate is that people had other concerns, specifically voters of color.
“A second concern was about gun security, mass shootings, security along the border, crime, but not necessarily about migration. All these problems were so complicated that they were not aligned with one party or the other.”
I point out that the voters really sent the message to both parties that they are disappointed in both and need to stop the increase in extremism. “I think the voters are tired.”
It should be noted that exit polls from the Associated Press news agency showed that 56% of Latinos voted for the Democratic candidates against the 47% of Latinos who favored the Republicans with their suffrage.
Democrats and Asians
Christine Chen, Director of Asian Pacific Islander American Vote |APIAVote, said that three quarters of Asian voters voted by mail, and they are very confident that the turnout at the polls will surpassed or equaled the numbers of 56.
“From a national poll, it appears that the Democrats have obtained the most votes Asian, but it also varies by Asian ethnicity.”
He said that when they looked at the poll of Asian-American voters for , they noticed that there is a growing number of independent voters among the Asian-American electorate give each other around 13%, and the Chinese actually have the highest percentage with 47.
“Even among Vietnamese who support the Republicans at a higher rate than any other Asian ethnic group.”
African American vote
Karma Cottman, director of Ujima Inc.: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, said that regardless of party, African-American voters have very complex concerns and deep.
“We are concerned about our families, our security in physical and financial terms to be able to take care of our families and feed them”.
He said that a big mistake has been to see the African-American vote as a monolith. “Part of the challenge for both parties is that they have reached out to our communities without hearing us talk about our needs, instead using rhetoric to engage us.”
So he said they need to talk about their diverse needs and this must be accompanied by actions.
“What we have seen in the past two months were actions to move student loans, a response to the problems of abortion and to women who do not they want the state to control their bodies.”
He concluded by saying that what they saw in the midterm elections, is that African-American women mobilized to get out the vote and ensure that their issues were represented at the polls.
The vote in Arizona
Gowri Ramachandran, a lawyer for the Brennan Center elections and government program, said that in the weeks leading up to the elections intermediate, in Maricopa County in Arizona a, there were reasons for people to be concerned about intimidation and misinformation.
“It was understandable after what we saw in the aftermath of the election 2022, and the fear that some of the efforts to minimize fair results would be repeated.”
He said there was also a movement to try to convince citizens of widespread fraud and encourage people to watch mailboxes.
“The Brennan Center conducted a survey in the spring of this year and found that one in six polling station officials had been personally threatened.”
He pointed out that a great effort was made to keep the electoral system safe and resilient and guarantee that people could vote with confidence
“We had law enforcement leaders in some communities in Arizona come out and say no intimidation of voters and of poll workers would be tolerated.”
Independent Commissions
How did candidates of color fare in those state elections where there was activism and achievement in the area of redistricting?
Kathay Feng of the organization Common Cause , said there are about seven states that have some sort of relatively independent redistricting commission, and another six have an advisory commission to make a total of 13 state.
“It is important to note that in each of these states, there was a great participation of the communities of color who came out and talked about where those communities are and their growth to make sure the lines truly reflect them.”
He said that unfortunately you don’t see that in states where redistricting is controlled by rulers and politicians, where despite the tremendous growth of the Latino populations in states like Texas, or the African American population in Florida, those communities were sliced and diced, so that the increase was not represented or dismantled .
“So we see a significant difference between states that have commissions in one form or another, and those that don’t.”