Samba dancers and a mariachi band accompanied young Latino voters as they marched to an uptown Charlotte early voting site this month. The event was organized by Poder Latinx, Carolina Migrant Network and other advocacy groups.
For 18-year-old Maria Ramos, it was her first time casting a ballot.
“I came out to vote because I am a little bit disappointed with how the government is right now and how they’re attacking the Hispanic community,” Ramos said. “In honor of my parents and my family, I’m voting to make a difference.”
First-time voter Jade Gonzalez said she sees voting as a way to support her family.
“Being first-generation Mexican-American, it’s my duty to come out and support my people," Gonzalez said, "especially as immigrants and the way the world is going on right now.”
The event comes nearly a year after federal immigration agents conducted Operation Charlotte’s Web, arresting Latino immigrants across the city. ICE has continued operations in Charlotte, including a traffic stop and arrest in east Charlotte last Wednesday.
Lennin Caro, director of the Camino Research Institute, analyzed Mecklenburg County voter data. He found that 5,123 Hispanic voters cast ballots during the first week of early voting this year, compared with 1,610 at the same point in the 2022 midterms.
Hispanic voters accounted for 4.6% of all ballots cast during the first week this year. They made up 2.2% at the same point in 2022 and 3.6% in 2024.
The number of Hispanic voters ages 18 to 25 also increased: 1,066 had voted during the first week this year, compared with 162 at the same point in 2022.
Caro said the increase is too large to be explained only by growth in Latino voter registration.
“Even when you account for the growth in voter registration, it’s very pronounced growth,” Caro said. “Latinos are fired up. This is more like presidential election level activity, right? So there's a lot of energy right now.”
The figures track ballots by voters’ listed ethnicity. They don’t show which candidates people chose or what motivated them to vote.
Those local turnout numbers come during signs of a national shift. An NBC News and Telemundo poll found that 27% of registered Latino voters approved of President Donald Trump’s job performance, while 69% disapproved.
Campaigns and advocacy groups are also trying to reach Latino voters. Roy Cooper’s U.S. Senate campaign says its Latino Leaders for Roy coalition is organizing across the state, including through Spanish-language canvassing and phone banks.
Matty Lazo-Chadderton, a coalition member, said the issues she hears about include the cost of living and immigration.
“We can lower costs from gasoline to housing to, you know, groceries, basic things,” she said. “And also, of course, the situation for immigration.”
Carolina Migrant Network’s Stefania Arteaga said the music, food and dancing at the Charlotte event were meant to help people feel comfortable voting together.
“Voting can also be fun. It could also be a community experience,” Arteaga said. “As Latinos, I think that it’s always part of our nature to do something as a group, to do something around food, to do something around music.”
On the Republican side, the conservative Latino group LIBRE Initiative Action has endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley. In a written statement, it said Whatley would focus on affordability, lower taxes and economic opportunity.
Neither Whatley’s campaign nor LIBRE responded to WFAE's request for comment.
