Data Shows U.S. Latino Voting Lagging

WASHINGTON - More Latinos are voting in U.S. elections, but they remain under-represented when compared to their overall population numbers, a think tank report said.

The Pew Hispanic Center said more than 6.6 million Latinos voted in November's 2010 midterm election, which translated to 6.9 percent of all voters who cast ballots.

While that percentage is up from 5.8 percent in 2006, only about 31.2 percent of all eligible Latino voters went to the polls. Pew said that compared to 48.6 percent of white voters and 44 percent of black voters.

Pew analysts said in a written statement that non-citizenship and a relatively young Latino demographic likely contributed to the lag. Less than 18 percent of Latinos age 18-29 voted although they make up 31 percent of the eligible Latino voters.

The Pew report was compiled using new U.S. Census data.