Voter turnout among African-American and Hispanic voters in the US is surging, and this swell of minority participation could spell trouble for Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s White House hopes.
On Sunday — the last day of early voting before the election today — hundreds of people attended “Souls to the Polls” events, aimed at encouraging churchgoers to vote across the key swing state of Florida.
Some came straight from morning worship, wearing three-piece suits or dresses as they made their way past dozens of campaigners hoisting signs for local candidates and urging support for solar energy and education issues.
At one event in central Miami, people held hands and prayed outside an early voting site, while at another in southern Miami-Dade County, about 20 African-American men rolled in together on motorcycles.
For some, the vote they cast was as much for Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton as it was against her billionaire challenger.
“I’m scared if Trump wins,” said Ines Curbelo, 57, a nurse who described herself as Afro-Cuban and was handing out Democratic flyers at a polling place Cutler Bay, south of Miami.
As speakers blared gospel and rhythm and blues music, a line formed near a smoky barbecue pit and several young boys jousted with inflatable swords on the grassy lawn behind her.
“He would set back politics and set back race relations and set back women’s fight for equality in the workplace — everything is going to get set so far back,” Curbelo said.
Hispanics make up a powerful voting bloc in the battleground state of Florida and are widely expected to lean toward Clinton, particularly since Trump has described Mexicans as rapists, repeatedly vowed to build a border wall and promised to deport masses of illegal immigrants.
As of Saturday, 565,000 Hispanics have voted in person in Florida, a 100 percent increase over the close of early voting in 2012, according to Daniel Smith, a University of Florida professor who tracks voter turnout.
In another indication of voter enthusiasm, of the 911,000 Hispanics who have already voted this year — whether in person or by mail — 36 percent did not vote in the previous presidential election.
Nationwide, about 12 percent of voters are Hispanic, or about 27.3 million people, according to Pew Research Center projections.
Four million more Hispanics are eligible to vote this year compared with 2012, and high turnout has been seen in other states such as Nevada.
“The Hispanic community is coming out,” teacher Marcela Stewart, 37, told reporters at the Souls to the Polls event.
“I think as far as the black community, we need to work a little harder,” she added. “Some people are just discouraged and feel they cannot impact the election, so we want to let them know that their voices will be heard and they need to come out.”
When early voting in the US started two weeks ago, African-American turnout was low.
According to Tornell Jenkins, a 37-year-old student, US President Barack Obama’s historic victory as the first black president in 2008 “really drove the black vote.”
“Now there is confusion. Some blacks feel that both parties are bad,” he added, predicting that many in his community would wait for election day to vote.
Things changed after Obama made a series of appeals for black voters to support Clinton, and Clinton herself appeared at a campaign event with Beyonce and Jay-Z.
“Over the past few days, we’ve seen black turnout explode, with more African-Americans voting early in-person than in 2012, and we still have ‘Souls to the Polls’ numbers from today to add to the running total,” Smith told reporters.
A total of 777,000 blacks have already voted in Florida, he said.
More are coming to vote in person — 25,000 more as of Saturday, compared with all eight days of early voting in 2012.
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