3 Takeaways From New Poll on Millennials of Color and the Election

By Kenrya Rankin Oct 04, 2016

The latest report from Black Youth Project’s monthly GenFoward survey—conducted in collaboration with The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research—uncovered some interesting information about how millennials of color view the current general election cycle and the issues at stake. Here are three important takeaways from the report, which draws on data collected from more than 1750 people, ages 18 through 30.

1. Millennials of color are more likely to not vote at all than to vote for a third-party candidate.
While 24 percent of Whites surveyed say they plan to vote for someone other than the Democratic or Republican nominees, just 14 percent of Blacks, 14 percent of Asian Americans and 17 percent of Latinxs agree. Conversely, 18 percent of Blacks, 14 percent of Asian Americans and 21 percent of Latinxs are not planning to vote in November. Just 14 percent of Whites say the same.

{{image:2}}

2. Latinx voters are the least likely to vote a straight party ticket in the fall.
When asked if they will vote for candidates in their preferred political party all the way down the ballot, 92 percent of Latinx respondents said yes, versus 95 percent of African Americans, 98 percent of Asians and 98 percent of Whites.

3. Millennials of color have vastly different concerns when it comes to today’s issues.
Each ethnic group surveyed cited a different issues as the “most important problems facing this country today.” Black respondents picked racism (43 percent), Asian Americans chose education (29 percent), Latinxs selected immigration (36 percent) and Whites picked “terrorism and homeland security.” Blacks were the only group to include police brutality on the list of the top three issues; it was number two, at 38 percent.

{{image:3}}