Latino voter turnout rising across North Carolina with 2024 election on the horizon

Latino Los Angeles10/14/2024

1 minute read

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – This Hispanic Heritage Month, Latinos, the fastest-growing population in North Carolina, have at least 300,000 reasons to celebrate the right to vote as more Hispanic U.S. citizens of voting age prepare to cast their ballots than ever before.

“Our objective is to celebrate our music; And use our culture to empower the Latino people to become civically engaged and eventually vote,” Esau Torres, founder of the grassroots, non-partisan group, Grita Canta Vota, told CBS 17’s Baron James.

The latest numbers from the North Carolina Board of Elections show that 4% of the state’s registered voters check the form’s Hispanic box – a total of more than 300,000 people, marking a 300% increase since 2004. There’s more Hispanic voters registered now than ever before to impact local and state elections, as well as help pick the next president of the United States this year.

“It feels really good because I think it’s important,” Victoria Giron, a new U.S. citizen and first-time registered voter, said. “It will change our future.”

This skyrocketing voting bloc is far from being monolithic. The issues that matter to Hispanics are just as varied as the people themselves.