As residents of Southeast D.C. went to the polls Tuesday, some minority voters said that the issues that matter to them most simply weren’t addressed in the 2016 election.
Lupita Garza called the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump a joke.
Garza, who said she is black and Hispanic, planned to cast her vote for Secretary Clinton but has doubts.
“We’re being set up to have to choose between a terrible option and a qualified option but a qualified option that does not have the poise needed,” Garza said.
Ronald McIntyre said minorities have been neglected by both candidates. Self-described as anti-Trump, McIntyre argues that “any major party candidate … that’s willing to dismiss any race, color, or national origin isn’t fit to be president of this country because this country has all of those.”
“Hillary has a history of working with minorities,” McIntyre said. “Donald Trump has a history of working against minorities, from his business practices to his rhetoric.”
While Secretary Clinton is not expected to garner the same number of black votes as President Barack Obama did in the previous two elections, polls predict that an increase in Hispanic voters could benefit the Democratic candidate.
Garza notes that Secretary Clinton herself is a minority candidate based on her gender.
“Being a minority in office, you’ve got to come with more than the right thing to say and that’s what makes her a struggle to support,” Garza said.
Minority voters make up more of the voting population than at any point since the nation was created. According to a Pew Research Poll, the number of white voters has decreased every election cycle since the 1984 landslide in which Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale. The minority voting population is expected to hit 31 percent of the electorate this year.
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