LAS VEGAS, NV–Today, local advocates, national coalitions, and newly naturalized voters gathered in Las Vegas for the inaugural stop of the “Naturalized and Ready to Vote!” tour, where a second round of voter survey results were released and announced exclusively by The Hill, revealing New American Voters’ sentiments on important election issues, like immigration, healthcare, and the cost of living. The survey results, analyzed by the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at University of California San Diego, spotlight voter attitudes among the estimated 41,368 Nevadans and other swing state voters who have naturalized since the last presidential election. A recording of the press conference is available here.
Key findings from New American Voter poll:*
- New American Voters are paying attention and are highly committed to vote in this election, with nearly 76% of those polled reporting they will “definitely vote” and nearly 22% reporting they will “probably vote,” totaling an approximate 98% commitment. Additionally, nearly 84% of those polled report that they are paying attention to this presidential campaign.
- New American Voters, like U.S.-born citizens, care about “kitchen table” issues. The voters polled were most concerned about the high cost of living, inflation, and the economy, closely followed by immigration.
- New American Voters want humane immigration solutions, with nearly 90% of those polled reporting “immigration reform, with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants” as important to their vote. A majority (nearly 62%) feel that what happens to immigrants in the U.S. will impact them.
- Additional results available here.
The event featured remarks from New American Voters as well as leaders from the Asian Community Development Center (ACDC), National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), Make the Road Nevada, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1107.
Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA Executive Director, “We are excited to release the second round of the first ever national poll spotlighting naturalized voter attitudes in key swing states. Many of those polled are among the over 3.5 million new Americans that have naturalized since the last presidential election, and with naturalized voters now accounting for over 10% of the U.S. electorate nationwide, they have the potential to play an outsized role in key states this November. What is clear from the polling is that naturalized Americans are paying close attention to this election and are highly committed to vote. Like the rest of the nation, they are concerned about inflation, cost of living, and the economy. They also support affirmative immigration solutions that make our immigration system more efficient, timely, and respectful of people’s rights. With just 56 days remaining before the election, we encourage all who are eligible for citizenship to naturalize, and all who are newly-naturalized to register to vote – not only to strengthen our democracy, but to ensure our communities’ voices and priorities are heard at the polls.”
Said Vida Lin, President and Founder of ACDC, “Since the last presidential election, over 41,000 people in Nevada have become citizens and will be able to vote in the first presidential elections… Of the 41,000, nearly 26% are from Asian countries, such as the Philippines, China, Vietnam and South Korea. Why are these numbers significant? We know that when we activate our communities, these numbers have a true impact. During the presidential election in 2020, the election was won by 33,500 votes. At ACDC, we are reaching many people to get out the vote among them are naturalized citizens, and we are so excited to join forces with NPNA and the New American Voters campaign to ensure that their voices are heard at the ballot box. So make sure you vote!”
Said Edelweiss Solano, New American Voter, “Being an American citizen is so much more than clutching that small U.S. flag that I waved during my naturalization ceremony. It is about serving a bigger purpose, to have my voice finally be heard, to express my opinion on the candidate that I will vote for, who reflects my values and represents the interests of my community, to help build a democracy that represents, protects and works for people like me–who look like me, who look like us. To my fellow naturalized citizens and New American Voters, I encourage you to vote and let your voice be heard. When we vote, we have the opportunity to advocate for better policies on immigration, language access, health care, and education to further advance equity, inclusion and diversity. Voting is exercising your right of suffrage. It is also something provided by a democratic country. Now that we’ve naturalized, let’s vote, and let’s all be part of that change.”
Today, nearly 109,987 Nevada residents are eligible to naturalize, the majority of whom – approximately 112,080 residents – reside in the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise area. The New American Voters campaign encourages all eligible Nevadans to take advantage of the reduced fee for naturalization available to a majority (71%) of eligible-to-naturalize American residents in time to register to vote this year.
For more information on how to vote and verify your voter registration, and to find out what will be on your ballot, please visit Vote411.org/npna.
*This survey was fielded online from August 16– 28, 2024. The sample size is 2,678 naturalized citizens who are registered to vote, including an oversample of an additional 200 naturalized citizens who are registered to vote and residing in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of 66 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 40 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org