Early voting data in key swing states such as Florida suggests that Hispanic voters are coming out in record numbers to vote in today's presidential election in the US.
Hispanic voters traditionally vote for the Democratic candidate, and Republican candidate Donald Trump is believed to have angered Hispanic voters with his anti-illegal immigrant rhetoric and calls to build a wall on America's southern border with Mexico.
Approximately 1 million of the 6.2 million early votes cast in Florida were cast by Hispanic voters. The New York Times called this a 25% increase over the Hispanic vote in 2012.
Political scientist Daniel Smith said that “we’re headed for record turnout (of Hispanics) in Florida."
“So far, 36 per cent of the 907,000 Hispanics who have voted in 2016 didn’t vote by any method in 2012. That’s a full 12 points higher than whites, and will likely be the key to who wins the presidency.”
Similar increases in the number of Hispanic voters were recorded in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina.
Some analysts believe that the Hispanic vote may create an effect for Hillary Clinton similar to the effect the African American vote created for Barack Obama in 2012.