Confidence & Community: Tapping Into Latino Power

Recognizing that Latino voter turnout is lower than population at large, the Civic Participation Action Fund (CPAF) commissioned Topos to conduct ethnographic research to uncover cultural understandings of voting and civic participation to develop strategies tailored to Latinos’ needs and concerns.

Rather than apathy, Topos found Latinos believe so strongly in the importance of voting that they don’t want to make a mistake, and thus turnout depended on a voter’s confidence and believing one’s vote matters. The intersection of these two factors created four distinct voter profiles – true believers, believers, skeptics and rejecters – each with different challenges and engagement opportunities.

The report concludes with a strategic roadmap, including tactical examples organized around principles emerging from the research.

Civic Participation Action Fund  is an Atlantic grantee.