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October 9, 2002
Survey of Latinos on political attitudes shows opposition to abortion
Education and economy two most important issues to Latino voters, survey shows
By Agostino Bono
WASHINGTON (CNS) — A majority of Latino registered voters favor either outlawing abortion totally or heavily restricting it, according to a new national survey.
The survey also reported that education and the economy are the two most important political issues among Latinos.
Generally, the Latino electorate tends to be conservative on family and sexual issues and liberal regarding social issues, said the survey. It cited respondents' support for a bigger federal government providing more services, even if it means paying higher taxes.
The survey titled "The Latino Electorate" was conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation to determine political attitudes and party identification of registered voters. It is based on interviews conducted between April and June with 2,929 Latinos, of whom 1,329 said they were registered voters.
The margin of error for the survey of registered voters is plus or minus 3.6 percent. Results of the larger survey of 2,929 respondents is scheduled for release in December.
The survey of registered voters did not list religious affiliation or assess the role of religion in shaping political beliefs.
Other surveys have reported that about 70 percent of Latinos profess Catholicism. The 2000 U.S. census puts the Latino population at 35.3 million, about 12.5 percent of the overall U.S. population.
The survey shows that the Latino electorate is not easily defined according to traditional U.S. definitions of liberal and conservative, said Roberto Suro, Pew Hispanic Center director, at an Oct. 3 news conference in Washington to release the survey.
He also noted that there are significant differences among Latino subgroups and that 55 percent of all the Latino respondents said that they were not registered voters because they were not citizens (41 percent) or they were citizens who were not registered (14 percent).
Foreign-born Latino voters tend to be more socially conservative than U.S.-born Latinos, said Suro.
Regarding general attitudes on abortion, 69 percent of the Latino electorate said it was unacceptable and 26 percent said it was acceptable. Regarding legalized abortion, 24 percent said it should be illegal in all cases and 31 percent answered illegal in most cases. Legalized abortion was favored by 12 percent in all cases and 30 percent in most cases.
When asked to name the two most important voting issues, 58 percent said education and 39 percent said the economy. Education was much more important to foreign-born Latinos, as 68 percent of them listed it compared to 50 percent of U.S.-born Latinos.
"Registered Latino voters are far more concerned with education as a political issue than any other segment of the electorate," said the survey.
On the role of government, 55 percent said they prefer a larger government even if it means higher taxes.
"Latinos are considerably more likely to say that they prefer a larger government that provides more services even if it means paying higher taxes than they are to say that they prefer a smaller government that provides fewer services," said Mollyann Brodie, public opinion director of the Kaiser Family Foundation, at the news conference.
"They're much more likely than registered voters who are white or African-American to prefer the larger government," she said.
Latino voters were almost evenly divided as to whether government or religious, charitable and community organizations are better at providing social services to the needy. Government was favored by 46 percent, while 47 percent favored the private organizations.
The survey noted that Latinos have strong attitudes on immigration, especially in reference to immigrants from Latin America.
Regarding overall immigration, 48 percent said that there were too many immigrants in the United States and 40 percent said that there was the right amount. Only 7 percent said that there were too few.
When the question was asked regarding Latin American immigrants, 36 percent said that more should be let in and 21 percent said that the number should be reduced.
Making it easier for illegal Latino immigrants to legalize their U.S. residency was favored by 85 percent and 62 percent think illegal immigrants help the economy.
Regarding party affiliation, 49 percent said they were Democrats and 20 percent Republicans. The survey also showed strong support for Republican President Bush. When asked if they had more confidence in Democrats in Congress or Bush, 42 percent said Bush and 43 percent said the Democrats.
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