Latinos Are Really Excited to Vote, New Poll Shows. Their Top Issue Is COVID-19.

The report offers a clear insight into the Latino electorate’s views on the 2020 presidential election, with the pandemic and lowering the cost of health care among respondents’ top concerns.  

Results from the 2020 Latino Weekly Tracking Poll offer an insight into the top issues that concern Latinos and their voting plans for the 2020 presidential election. 

The Top Issues for Latinos

When asked what are the most important issues that they would like the next president of the US to address:

52% of respondents said Coronavirus/COVID-19  

29% said lowering the costs of health care

26% said improving wages and creating more jobs

20% said immigration reform and protecting immigrant rights.

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According to the nation’s leading polling and research firm on Latino Americans, the nine-week survey will continue through the week of the election, with a survey sample each week of 400 unique Latino registered voters. By the end of the project, data from 3,700 eligible Latino voters will have been collected on political attitudes, voting preferences, the impact of COVID-19, vote-by-mail, outreach, and voter enthusiasm. Surveys were conducted online in English and in Spanish, with a resulting +/- 4.9 percent margin of error.

A previous poll, conducted between Oct. 12 and Oct. 17, revealed that Latino voters are casting ballots “with COVID-19 as their driving issue.”

“Nearly 30 percent of Latino voters have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic,” said Arturo Vargas, NALEO Educational Fund Chief Executive Officer.

Consequently, when asked if they approve or disapprove of the way President Trump is handling the COVID-19 response, 73% of those polled said they totally disagreed with the president’s performance during the pandemic, while 27% approved.

Biden Shows Significant Lead

Fifty-seven percent of those polled said they believe Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are currently doing a good job of reaching out to Hispanic/Latinos, while 37% “don’t care too much” for the job they are doing.

Poll results show that 68% of survey respondents plan on voting for former Vice President Joe Biden, while 25% plan on voting for President Donald Trump.

READ MORE: Latino Democrats on the President’s Refusal To Approve COVID Relief: “Trump Doesn’t Care”

At the same time, the latest poll also concluded that Latino voters have significant concerns about the orderly transition of power should there be a change of administrations. In fact, 65% are concerned that if former Vice President Joe Biden wins, there will not be an orderly transition of power.

Ready to Vote

 At this time, 16% of Latinos polled have already voted, while 66% say they are “almost certain” they will vote. Only 3% said they will probably not vote, while 7% say the chances of them voting are 50-50.  

But those who will vote are definitely enthusiastic about the prospect, with 60% saying they are more enthusiastic about voting in the 2020 election than they were about the 2016 election. Fifteen percent claim they were more enthusiastic about the 2016 presidential contest, and 20% say they feel about the same.