Folks always ask, "Why don't Latinos vote?"  Well, the barriers are significant, especially all the various ways that the vote gets suppressed.  Issues of representation figure in, too.  
It's going to continue to be an uphill climb unless we all prioritize this as a community and as a polity committed to democratic governance.  Read on.

-Angela

Federal ruling points to low levels of Latino representation in Texas

state-government

By Jeremy Schwartz - American-Statesman Staff

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MARLON SORTO

A makeshift get-out-the-vote sign in rural Floyd County.

Posted: 5:01 p.m. Monday, January 09, 2017

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A federal judge’s ruling last week that the city of Pasadena tried to dilute the voting power of its fast-growing Latino population through the use of at-large council districts could change how Texas officials enforce voting rights laws in the state, though the case is likely to be appealed.

What’s more certain is that the decision serves as another reminder of the barriers to political power for Latinos in local government across the state.

An American-Statesman investigation in October found that more than 1.3 million Hispanics in Texas live in cities or counties with no Hispanic representation on their city council or commissioners court, disparities that remain high even when accounting for noncitizens.

In a state where Hispanics make up 38 percent of the population, only about 10 percent of Texas mayors and county judges are Hispanic, the analysis found. In 1994, Latinos made up 10 percent of county commissioner positions; today, the percentage has inched up just slightly to 13 percent — even though the state’s Hispanic population nearly doubled over that time.

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