Gomez 1

Fernando M Gomez

ENGL 1302 – 101

Dr. Sharity Nelson

4 November 2022

Increasing Voter Turnout Among Minority Populations Through Effective Mobilization

Introduction

In today’s world, political transnationalism has become a much larger part of people’s

everyday lives. This has been largely influenced by the increase in access to technology.

Information about voting schedules and potential candidates are more accessible than ever before

with millions of people having access to voting alternatives and online information desks that

can answer all their questions. However, despite this technological advancement and the growing

population of Hispanic communities, this minority group has the lowest percentage of

participation in politics, especially in voting (Zorrilla-Velazquez et al. 3). This paper aims to

demonstrate why and when certain demographics are more or less likely to participate in

elections in the US. Furthermore, it will argue that to increase voter turnout among minority

populations, certain methods of contact must be used to mobilize Mexican immigrants present in

Hispanic American communities and, consequently, increase voter turnout.

Political Transnationalism

In their article, Qi and Gonzalez analyze their findings and conclude that there is a trend

where minority groups tend to vote in larger populations when they are a later generation of

immigrants. Of course, their findings also showed that there were differences across racial

groups, including African Americans, Asians, and Latinos. Notable idea that voter turnout is

related to race and immigration status – whether it may be the voter or their generations. There
Gomez 2

are also historical factors that are considered where trends lie where it is least noticed. In other

words, there are surveyed reasons for why people don’t vote; this article underlines the

importance of considering the history and generations of immigrants as their voting preferences

and participation increase over time. Race and immigrant status are discussed conversely. This

idea of immigration generations brings new light to the idea of political transnationalism. It

makes sense that the newer generations, which have more access to information and voting

opportunities are more likely to vote than the earlier generations of immigrants. Case in point, an

adaption to the culture of the United States occurs over time, and Latinos are likely to vote in

later generations that experienced and saw first-hand the changes that are necessary because of

what their older generations of immigrant families went through including cultural adaptation

and assimilation.

Fording and Schram focus on Donald Trump’s campaign statement, which, according to

them, attracted unprecedented levels of support from “low-information voters” – people who

were not completely aware of the facts and were more vulnerable to accepting Trump’s

statements without question. This ties in with the topic of little Mexican immigrant

representation in political activities because they are misinformed and mislead by specific

statements made by presidents who may or may not establish a seemingly strong authority over

people’s minds. This is especially true among minority groups that are more vulnerable to

accepting promises that might offer them a better future. In addition to lack of access to basic

resources for engagement in political activities, minority groups like Mexican immigrants are

constantly forced to reason and rely on emotions encouraged by candidates, which they

subsequently vote for without seeing no other choice to go for. Fording and Schram’s article will

support this statement and main idea by presenting one such case: Donald Trump’s influence in
Gomez 3

US politics and acquisition of support from “low-information voters”. Not only that, but Muslim

refugees and African American citizens are other minority groups that are also affected by

political attractions besides Mexican immigrants.

Zorrilla-Velazquez et al. consider the impact of Mexican communities in the United

States in this paper. Using a transnational theory perspective, political activities and involvement

alternatives for Mexican immigrants are explained. It considers the background of Mexican

diaspora along with their historical, social, and political background that has led to their idea of

the external vote and its impact on the United States’ political schedules. Furthermore, it

considers in-person and internet voting as possible solutions for Mexican immigrants and

communities in the United States to learn and use. This contributes to the main idea of the factors

behind the voting turnout behaviors of Mexican communities, whose influence is stronger than

ever before in today’s world. In fact, this article uses data from 2006 to the present – it considers

immigration as a historical phenomenon that is currently partaking meaningful impacts on

politics in the United States. Voting abroad is a growing phenomenon and this article addresses it

with strong arguments and evidence.

Representation of Interests

In their article, Fine and Avery consider Latino representation in relation to the Latino

population size, which they find no relationship with. Geographic constituencies and electoral

constituencies are compared in terms of how the proportions of Latino populations are especially

underrepresented. “Latino electoral strength” is a term used to examine its effects on

representation of Latino interests in the U.S. Senate. As there is less Latino electoral strength,

there is a worse representation of interests. This makes sense in terms of the discussion topic on

Mexican immigrants having little to no access to specific and necessary information that may
Gomez 4

significantly contribute to their voting behaviors and finding appropriate and equal

representation. Studies of racial threat theory are melded with the idea of the concurrent growing

trend of a transnational political setting. With growing technology resources, it is hard to

understand why so many people of Mexican decent have such a little voice in government. This

article talks about this and explains the underrepresentation of Latino interests, which are

influenced by the lack of participation and electoral constituency.

In his article, Fraga discovers that rather than increasing a candidates support on behalf of

minority groups depending on race, it is more so that as the population of a minority group

increases, there is simply more support for a specific candidate regardless of race. This is a

strong source of evidence, especially considering that the theory of race and participation engulf

the idea that minority voters will support a candidate that is of the same race. However, as this

article explains, there is more support for the candidate that will cause the more benefit in the

eyes of the population of a minority group and specific race, such as Black and/or Latino

citizens. Not only that, but district composition, which is also discussed by Fraga, underscores

the importance of other factors aside from race and/or ethnicity. This is also a new point of view

to the essay in that, apart from discussing the effects of lack of resources and information that

may positively or negatively affect voting patterns, this article talks more on a new broadened

idea about the ethnic population as a body rather than as individuals. Instead of focusing only on

how each individual voter will vote, the minority groups as a whole/s contribute to the overall

support of specific candidates, leading to the shift and movement in political schedules in the

United States.

In his article, Juenke considers the candidate point of view on self-selection. Minority

group representation politics is often related to the supply of minority candidate. However,
Gomez 5

Juenke as Juenke discusses in his article, the evidence he found corroborates the idea that this is

a misconception of political representation of certain groups such as Latinos, a growing minority

group. According to Juenke, it all starts with the self-selection of the minority candidate to be

involved and participate in politics for the factor of candidate representation of minority groups

to be considered in the first place. Rather than jumping ahead to individual voter’s options and

predictions of having them vote for a minority candidate, it also important to recognize the first

stage: the candidate’s decision to run. This is strongly related to Fraga’s experiment where there

was a clear difference between minority groups voting based on candidate’s race. There is a

common ground in that the representation of minority groups in politics is much more than

simply representing them through their inclusion in politics. Rather, their interests are what are to

be considered and applied the political realm to advance appropriate changes and

transformations.

Minority Mobilization

In their paper, Stevens and Bishin talk about mobilization of minority voter turnout

through effective contact techniques by candidates and parties. Stevens and Bishin delve into the

topic of voter turnout in ethnic minorities as well as racial as affected by the amount of influence

the parties may play in either as compared to whites or Americans. This article, in fact, is the

answer to the driving question of my essay and will contribute the driving ideas of the essay.

Since it talks about Minority participation and mobilization, it has a lot to do with the voter

turnout differences between whites and minorities including Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and more.

Nonetheless, a new topic it will also be able to introduce will be the differential contact thesis,

which is an alternative for identifying group mobilization besides race including or factoring in

socioeconomic status and party identification. This is closely related to idea of an emphasis on
Gomez 6

candidates addressing specific interest of minority groups rather than simply establishing

representation by having a candidate of that race, ethnicity, or minority group.

In their article, De La Garza and Yang discuss their findings and results of their theory

that language proficiency has a strong influence on political participation. Registration, voting

and non-electoral campaign related activities are discussed in how they are presented to English

and Spanish-dominant Latinos as well as bilingual people. Language proficiency grouping is

analyzed. This shows how the dominant language can and should be used when informing

certain groups in the United States about political topics, such as those analyzed in this article.

This includes how and where to register and non-electoral campaigns that encourage political

participation. It is noteworthy that high levels of political involvement are in populations that are

spoken to in their dominant language. That is, English-dominant Latinos participate more when

political topics are talked about in English, but both also participate in such activities when they

are informed in their dominant language. This translates clearly to the topic of how Mexican

immigrants may be misinformed because political topics are not talked in the dominant language

in their areas and therefore are less informed or have less of an idea of what political engagement

and activities, they can participate in.

Zorrilla-Velazquez et al. consider the impact of Mexican communities in the United

States in this paper. Using a transnational theory perspective, political activities and involvement

alternatives for Mexican immigrants are explained. It considers the background of Mexican

diaspora along with their historical, social, and political background that has led to their idea of

the external vote and its impact on the United States’ political schedules. Furthermore, it

considers in-person and internet voting as possible solutions for Mexican immigrants and

communities in the United States to learn and use. This contributes to the main idea of the factors
Gomez 7

behind the voting turnout behaviors of Mexican communities, whose influence is stronger than

ever before in today’s world. In fact, this article uses data from 2006 to the present – it considers

immigration as a historical phenomenon that is currently partaking meaningful impacts on

politics in the United States. Voting abroad is a growing phenomenon and this article addresses it

with strong arguments and evidence.

Conclusion

In conclusion, with a rising Hispanic minority population increase, minority mobilization

must be taken into effect through effective methods of contact including the use of a dominant

language among populations to use technologies to their advantage for increased political

participation as well as alternatives. Representation of interests encourages a more democratic

setting, especially for the later generations of Mexican immigrants, who comprise a growing

population in the United States.

Gomez 8

Works Cited:

De La Garza, Rodolfo O., and Alan Yang. “Language Dominance, Bilingualism, and Latino

Political Participation in the United States.” Political Science Quarterly, vol. 130, no. 4,

2015, pp. 655–699., https://doi.org/10.1002/polq.12399. 

Fine, Jeffrey A., and James M. Avery. “Senate Responsiveness to Minority Constituencies:

Latino Electoral Strength and Representation.” Social Science Quarterly, 2014,

https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12093. 

Fording, Richard C., and Sanford F. Schram. “The Cognitive and Emotional Sources of Trump

Support: The Case of Low-Information Voters.” New Political Science, vol. 39, no. 4,

2017, pp. 670–686., https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2017.1378295. 

Fraga, Bernard L. “Candidates or Districts? Reevaluating the Role of Race in Voter

Turnout.” American Journal of Political Science, vol. 60, no. 1, 2015, pp. 97–122.,

https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12172.

Juenke, Eric Gonzalez. “Ignorance Is Bias: The Effect of Latino Losers on Models of Latino

Representation.” American Journal of Political Science, vol. 58, no. 3, 2014, pp. 593–603.,

https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12092. 

Qi, Dan, and Sylvia Gonzalez. “Immigrant Status, Race, and Voter Turnout in the American

Mass Public.” Social Science Quarterly, vol. 103, no. 1, 2021, pp. 225–240.,

https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13110. 
Gomez 9

Stevens, Daniel, and Benjamin G. Bishin. “Getting out the Vote: Minority Mobilization in a

Presidential Election.” Political Behavior, vol. 33, no. 1, 2010, pp. 113–138.,

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-010-9128-7. 

Zorrilla-Velazquez, Daniel, et al. “Political Transnationalism in Mexico: The Importance of

Mexican Communities in the United States and the External Vote.” The International

Journal of Interdisciplinary Civic and Political Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1–15.,

https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0071/cgp/v16i01/1-15.