Univision News Releases Two Comprehensive Surveys of Hispanic Voters and General Electorate

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--An unprecedented Univision News - Latino Decisions Election poll of Hispanic registered voters and the general electorate finds the economy, immigration and education as top issues facing the community and outlines the challenges facing both parties ahead of the 2012 elections. President Obama and the Democratic Party face challenges in recuperating 2008 voter enthusiasm levels that delivered roughly two-thirds of its votes in 2008 and which will be essential to Democratic hopes of retaining the White House and strengthening its position in Congress. On the other side, the poll also finds that Republican candidates for the White House remain largely unknown among Hispanic voters, while anti-immigration rhetoric could undermine efforts to make inroads with a key constituency, which shares the nation’s economic worries.

Two-thirds of Latinos indicate approval of the president’s job performance, but only 1 in 3 Hispanic voters strongly approves of the president, suggesting softness in his popularity among a constituency that were among his most ardent backers in 2008. In addition, 53 percent of Hispanic registered voters indicated that they are less enthusiastic about President Obama now than they were in 2008.

These attitudes could be driven by a general dissatisfaction with the federal government amid loud complaints from Latinos about high joblessness and a lack of progress on immigration reform.

Sixty-three percent of Latinos disapprove of Congress and while 61 percent of the general electorate is very excited about voting in 2012, only 47 percent of Latinos say the same.

In head-to-head ballot tests, President Obama retains a decisive edge over his potential Republican challengers among Hispanics. The President out-polls former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain by 2-to-1 margins, rivaling his margin of victory over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008. However, the survey shows that the Republican candidates remain largely unknown. Nearly half of all Hispanic voters felt they were not sufficiently familiar to offer an opinion of Gov. Romney, 37 percent could offer no view on Gov. Perry and 53 percent for Herman Cain.

This suggests the possibility of fluidity in the support of Hispanic voters over the course of the campaign, which is further evidenced by the generic Congressional ballot test, in which nearly one-quarter of Hispanic voters remains undecided.

The survey finds that like voters everywhere, the issue of the economy is paramount. When asked which was the most important issue in determining who to vote for in an election, 65 percent said the economy, compared to 23 percent who said immigration, with education and health care polling at 16 percent and 12 percent respectively. Respondents also indicated support for policies broadly favored by Republicans, with 42 percent support for extending tax cuts to everyone regardless of income.

However, when presented a hypothetical candidate whose economic policies the voter supported but who used strong anti-immigrant rhetoric, nearly 60 percent indicated the rhetoric would make them less likely to vote for that candidate.

The survey found that a majority of all voters (58 percent) support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including 53 percent of all Republicans.

That number is higher among Latinos: 67 percent support an earned path to citizenship, including 64 percent of Republican Latinos.

A majority of general voters (62 percent) and of Latino voters (67 percent) believe that conditioning immigration reform on border security is a ploy to block action on reform.

Details of the poll can be found at http://univisionnews.tumblr.com/post/12528019120/2012-election-polls-latino-results. For additional coverage, please visit UnivisionNews.Tumblr.com and UnivisionNoticias.com online and on mobile.

METHODOLOGY:

Univision News and Latino Decisions fielded two separate polls, one of Latino registered voters and a second among all registered voters nationally. Both polls were in the field from October 21 to November 1, 2011 and conducted by telephone to landlines and cell phones. Each poll interviewed 1,000 registered voters and contains a margin of error of plus or minus, 3.1%. For some questions, fielded to half the sample, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.4%. Field work was carried out by Pacific Market Research, using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing protocol.

Univision’s award-winning News division is committed to informing the country’s fastest growing segment across all media platforms, including TV, Radio and Interactive. Hispanics count on the latest and most relevant content that impacts the community through: Univision’s evening, late evening and weekend national newscasts, “Noticiero Univision”; political Sunday affairs program, “Al Punto”; newsmagazine programs “Aqui y Ahora” and “Primer Impacto” (First Impact); as well as morning news on “Despierta America” (Wake Up America). Univision also hosts statewide public affairs shows, “Voz y Voto,” in Texas, California and Puerto Rico. In the past six months, Univision has expanded its network and local news operations by adding Investigative and Documentary Units.

About Univision Communications Inc.

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the leading media company serving Hispanic America. Its assets include Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country reaching 97% of U.S. Hispanic households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network reaching 88% of U.S. Hispanic households; Univision Cable Networks, including Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network, and a suite of six cable offerings - De Película, De Película Clásico, Bandamax, Ritmoson, Telehit and Clásico TV; Univision Studios, which produces and co-produces reality shows, dramatic series and other programming formats for the Company’s platforms; Univision Local Media, which owns and/or operates 62 television stations and 70 radio stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Interactive Media, a network of national and local online and mobile sites including Univision.com, which continues to be the #1 most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. online Hispanics, Univision Móvil, a longstanding industry-leader with unique, relevant mobile products and services, and Univision Partner Group, a specialized advertising and publisher network. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit www.univision.net.