Email, Lynda Tran, partner, 270 to Win, Aug. 14, 2013

Senator Cornyn’s figures are accurate.

This means that Texas ranks 25th out of 29 states in percentage of Latino citizens who voted in 2012 and percentage of registered Latinos who voted in 2012, according to US Census Bureau figures.  (Only 29 states had a large enough Latino population for Census to provide these figures.)

Texas also ranks 20th out of 33 states in percentage of African-Americans who voted in 2012 and 25th out of 33 states in percentage of registered African-Americans who voted in 2012.  (Only 33 states had a large enough African-American population for Census to provide these figures.)

This means that Texas ranked in the bottom 17% for voter participation among eligible Latinos in 2012 even though the state was barred from implementing its discriminatory voter ID law and was still in compliance with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act at the time.  Voter participation could drop even lower in Texas and elsewhere as a result of Texas’s new policies.

In order to reverse Texas’s voter-unfriendliness, which is confirmed by Senator Cornyn’s figures, we believe Texas (and all other states) should do everything possible to make it easier for eligible voters to register and cast ballots.