Figure 1 and the Number of Hispanic Voters in Off-year Elections
However, during those same four years the growth of the Latino vote continued to lag well behind the growth of the Latino population. This widening gap is driven by two key demographic trends: a high percentage of the new Hispanics in the population are either too young to vote or ineligible because they are not citizens (Figure 1).
Figure 1  | The Growing Divergence Between the Total Hispanic Population  | and the Number of Hispanic Voters in Off-year Elections  | (millions, 1970- 2006)  | 45  | 40  | 35.3  | 35  | 30  | 25  | 22.4  | Total Hispanic  | population  | 20  | 14.6  | 15-  | Total Hispanic  | 10 9  | voters  | 4.7 5.6  | 2.2 2.9 2.9 3.5  | 1.4 1.6  | or  | 1970 1974 1978 1980 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2000 2002 2006 