POLL: Latino Voters Are Highly Engaged, Overwhelmingly Back Obama

According to the latest impreMedia-Latino Decisions tracking poll, Latino voters are highly engaged in the 2012 election — and they overwhelmingly support President Barack Obama’s re-election.

The poll shows that 84 percent of respondents said that they are certain to vote on Election Day, and 56 percent said that they are very enthusiastic about voting. That number is up 5 percent from last week’s 51 percent figure.

Furthermore, 45 percent said that they have actively tried to persuade friends or family on their election decision — which, Latino Decisions notes, means that “on this measure Latinos are as engaged in 2012 as all voters were in 2008.”

President Obama stands to gain significantly from this high level of enthusiasm. The poll indicates that Latino voters favor Obama over Romney by an overwhelming 71 to 20 percent margin, up from 71 to 23 percent last week. This is not terribly surprising; Romney has struggled to attract Latino support throughout the campaign, in large part due to the extreme positions that he took on immigration during the Republican primaries.

“This week’s survey indicates that Latino voters are one of the most highly engaged groups in the election,” impreMedia CEO Monica Lozano said in a statement. “This has implications for both candidates, but is an especially positive force for President Obama, who is still highly favored by Latinos.”

If Latino voters are as engaged as this poll suggests, then it calls the results of several high-profile polls into question. As Latino Decisions notes, “if they are not accurately polling and counting Latino voters, which will comprise 10% of all voters, they may be overstating Romney’s numbers by 2 or 3 points.”