Harris motivates huge surge in new voters among Latinos and other minorities

Chief correspondent of CBS News In Washington, Major Garrett spoke Tuesday with Tom Bonier of the political data firm Target Smart about the stunning new numbers showing a surprising increase in new voter registration among African-American, Latina, and other minority women and young voters, Population segments that are key for Democratic presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, in the 2024 elections.

Shocking new information suggests that Kamala Harris is inspiring many new voters to register, and a prominent Democratic analyst explained why This is cause for optimism about an electoral victory of the vice president, which he described as the “Harris effect”.

The most notable increases were recorded in the registration of new black and Latina voters.

The data was compared to 2020 election figures by TargetSmarta company that analyzes voter data. Tom Bonier, Senior Advisor, TargetSmartjoined the news segment on CBS News to provide more information on the numbers.

“We’re tracking something really interesting that’s happening right now. It’s a surge in voter registration in key groups ahead of the November election. Among young Black women, registration is up over 175%. You heard that right. Over 175% in 13 states. That’s compared to the same period in 2020. This, according to the data firm Target Smart, registration is also up among young Latinas and African Americans,” Garrett began.

Garrett then asked Bonier: “Could that be true? You must have checked this three times or many more times.”

The data expert responded: “You’re right to repeat the number because I checked it more than three times. It’s incredibly unusual to see changes in voter registration anywhere near this. I mean, it could be 175%, so almost triple the registration rates among this specific group. You don’t see that kind of thing happen normally in elections.”

In response to the question of What does the increase say about voter “enthusiasm”? Bonier said: “It tells us a lot. The reason we look at this voter registration data is because polls only tell us so much. Polls tell us how people are going to vote. They don’t tell us if they’re going to vote or who’s going to vote. It’s a big question.”

And Bonier emphasized: “The best indicator of that is the actions people are taking. First, registering to vote. Someone saying, ‘I want to participate in this election.’ And as we’ve seen these questions about which side has the advantage, the intensity and enthusiasm, we look for changes in voter registration like this. People who are newly registered to vote are much more likely to vote on Election Day.”

Bonier shared on X what he calls the “Harris effect”: “In the 13 states that have updated voter files since July 21, we are seeing incredible increases in voter registration relative to the same time period in 2024, driven by women, voters of color, and young voters.”

Bonier later clarified that this tweet should say “the same period of time in 2020”instead of 2024.

“What do we know about the Republican register and men?”, Garrett then asked Bonier.

“Well, for a long time, actually, from 2000 onward, we saw Republicans winning the registration battle, so to speak, especially in key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and other places. We saw them registering more voters. They had more intensity and enthusiasm,” Bonier said.

“And this is important because our analysis began on July 21, which is the day President Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race. And Kamala Harris announced her candidacy,” the data analyst highlighted.

“And that moment seems to be a potential tipping point in this race where we suddenly see Democrats saying, ‘I’m excited, I want to get involved.’ And since then, we’ve seen Democrats outperform Republicans in registration,” Bonier concluded.

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