Immigrants to Make up 1/3 of State's Electorate

In a first of its kind study released today, it was found that potential immigrant voters and their children could constitute nearly one-third of state voters by 2012, according to the LA Times. The analysis detailed populations in each of the state's legislative districts.

At 2.7 million immigrants, Los Angeles County had the highest number of potential voters, those that are "naturalized U.S. citizens, legal immigrants eligible for citizenship and their children ages 12 to 17." Within the county, the San Gabriel Valley holds the highest concentration. Orange, Santa Clara and San Diego counties follow in the numbers statewide which add up to 7.7 million.

Organizers of the study hope the information can help politicians make better decisions within their district and that it will jump start more civic action to help immigrants. However, some believe that it could take time before immigrant voters become a decisive vote in elections statewide as voter turnout is still uneven. "In 2004, for instance, non-Latino adult whites were 47% of the state population but 65% of voters."

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