Young Latinos between 18 and 29 represent nearly 25 percent of the Hispanic vote and their strength will be felt at the polls in November, motivated, among other things, by the war in Iraq, the economy. Also 90 percent of them feel there is discrimination against Hispanics in the United States, according to a survey by Democracy U.S.A.

According to the survey, 74 percent said they follow the presidential elections very closely, and 85 percent stated that this election is the most important one in history.

Their list of priorities is lead by the war in Iraq (52 percent); followed by jobs and the economy (42 percent); health and immigration (both at 24 percent); education (23 percent), the environment and global warming (13 percent); and mortgages and the real estate crisis (12 percent).

The non-partisan group Democracy U.S.A. presented results yesterday from the first survey focused on young Latino voters, conducted by the pollster Sergio Bendixen. Five hundred young people between ages 18 and 29 were interviewed in April and July in English and Spanish. The survey’s margin of error is 40 percentage points.

Bendixen explained that of the 10 to 12 million Latino voters registered in the United States, 24 percent or 2.5 million were between 18 and 29 years old. The figure is larger than the number of young people in the national electorate, which is 17 percent.

Like other young people, the rate of participation by Hispanics in the primary elections has not had precedents and the same thing will happen in the November 4 presidential elections.

The survey found that 54 percent of young Hispanic voters were born in the United States and 46 percent in Puerto Rico and Latin America. The majority, 55 percent, work, and 32 percent have some university or technical education, while 21 percent have graduated from university or high school.

According to the survey, the majority of young Hispanic voters consider themselves bilingual and bicultural, including 41 percent born here that consider themselves bicultural.

At the same time, 90 percent of young Hispanic voters feel there is some of much discrimination against Latinos, a significant figure considering that 54 percent of those interviewed were born in the United States.

Migration Debate

Jorge Mursuli, the president of Democracy U.S.A., pointed out that the negative repercussions the migration debate has had are what have caused the majority of these young people to feel some or much discrimination.

“These young people,” said Mursuli, “bear the burden” of recent attacks generated by the migration debate, even though the majority, 54 percent, were born in the United States. “Perhaps the anti-immigrant atmosphere does not directly affect them, but it does affect their friends or family members,” he said.

This influences their desire to participate or become involved in the electoral process, he explained.

Bendixen clarified that discrimination is not the determining factor for young people to participate in the political process.

“It’s only one factor, but an important one because they see that the community is under attack and they want to defend it,” Bendixen declared.

To that he added that the majority, although born here, consider themselves bicultural and Hispanic.

“They see Hispanic culture as a shield with which to defend themselves against anti-immigrant attacks, even though the majority themselves are not immigrants,” Bendixen explained.

Democracy U.S.A. is a non-partisan group and the survey did not ask which of the two presidential candidates, John McCain or Barack Obama, young Hispanic voters support most. The survey only indicated that almost half of young Hispanic voters answered that their vote for president would be similar to their parents’ vote.

Although the campaigns, and particularly Obama, have used the Internet to mobilize voters, especially young people, the majority of young Hispanic voters, 77 percent, obtain political information through the television in English (40 percent) and Spanish (37 percent).

Only 13 percent said they obtain information through the Internet and blogs.