Can Latino Voting Power be Mobilized?

“A common message of the recent immigrants rights marches was “Today we March, Tomorrow we Vote.” Latino voting power has been described as an “invisible giant,” an assessment based on the 58% of eligible Latino voters who were not registered to vote for the 2004 presidential election. With a potential 12 million new Latino voters nationally, immigrant rights activists and labor unions are mounting a major drive to increase Latino voter registration in time for the 2008 elections. The impact of increased Latino voting can be seen in California, where Latino voting has shifted state politics to the left over the past decade. Latino political power has grown dramatically in California even though 50% of eligible Latino voters still do not vote. The renewed focus on Latino voter turnout makes Lisa Garcia Bedolla’s Fluid Borders: Latino Power, Identity and Politics in Los Angeles particularly timely. Bedolla uses a comparative case study of two Latino communities in Southern California to assess what motivates Latino voting and civic engagement. The results of her study conflict with standard class-based analyses of voter behavior, and support the belief that the recent immigration protests could markedly increase Latino voter turnout. “

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