Study: Latino Voters Staunchly Pro-Democrat but Highly Apathetic

A new voter registers at a Democratic Party booth in this Sept. 14, 2008 file photo in Denver....

A new voter registers at a Democratic Party booth in this Sept. 14, 2008 file photo in Denver. Latino voters, the nation's fastest growing ethnic group with strong Democratic allegiances, appear significantly less motivated than other voters to participate in the upcoming elections, a new Pew Hispanic Center survey shows.

(John Moore/Getty Images)

More Eligible Latino Voters

The Pew study found that about half of all Hispanics believe the Democratic Party has more concern for them than do Republicans.

Latinos rank education, jobs and health care as the top three voting issues this election cycle, according to the survey. Immigration ranks as the fifth most important issue to registered Latino voters.

"Both parties have to pay attention to the Latino vote because of the growing number of Latinos. Every year, we're going to see a half a million Latino voters -- Latino citizens -- turn 18 for the next 20 years," said Laura Vazquez of the National Council of La Raza.

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"This is something both parties need to pay attention to and they cannot continue the demagoguery and the scapegoating that we're seeing right now."

Democrats have broadened their appeal among Latino voters in the past decade. In the 2004 presidential election, when Republicans won the largest share of the Latino vote since the 1980s, nearly 60 percent of Latinos supported Democrat John Kerry.

That share grew to 69 percent in 2006, when Latinos strongly favored Democratic congressional candidates over their Republican counterparts.

Sixty-seven percent of Latinos supported Barack Obama to 31 percent for John McCain in 2008.

Pew estimates that 19.3 million Latinos are eligible to vote, making up about 7.4 percent of all voters in 2008. While turnout among those voters has traditionally been lower than the national average, experts say, the overall number of eligible Latino voters is rapidly growing.