This study estimates the electoral voter capacity of Dominican-Americans.81
We use the term electoral voter capacity to mean an individual that is of legal voting age
(18 or above), who is a US citizen that is eligible to be registered to vote and, we assume,
has retained the privilege to vote.82 The concept of a Dominican-American is a political label
with which the Dominican community, residing in the US, is slowly becoming more familiar.83
Taking a proactive approach, this report uses "Dominican US citizen" and "Dominican-American"
interchangeably. The term Dominican US citizen is used to define a person who is either a native
or foreign-born naturalized United States citizen, living in the US, yet identifies himself or
herself as Dominican or having Dominican ancestry.
Electoral participation is another term often used in this document and here it
is defined as a US citizen who exercises their right to vote, upon registration.84
The 2000 Census provides data at various information levels from census block to census tract,
statewide to nationwide. However, the 2000 Census uses the state level as the lowest level by
which it provides citizenship information by ethnic group.85 A primary reason for this is that
the provision of sensitive information, such as citizenship/legal status, at a census track or
block level could potentially compromise a respondent’s right to anonymity—a primary incentive
tool used to encourage compliance.86
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The determination of how many US Dominicans are registered to vote and act
upon the right to cast their vote has not been studied at the national level.
The current data on voter registration is based on identification of Hispanic
surname analysis that can be obtained from voter registration records.87
The data is an estimate that misses all Latinos who do not have Hispanic surnames
and counts those individuals who have adopted an Hispanic surname through marriage
or otherwise. Moreover, one cannot distinguish ethnic groups based on this information.
This places Dominicans at a particular disadvantage for a few reasons.
Given the migratory history of the Dominican Republic, for example,
a multitude of Dominicans hold non-Spanish surnames.
Once registered, this report explores when and where can Dominicans vote and where their
voting patterns matter most, particularly in comparison to the major Latino groups residing
in the same area (namely, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadorian and Colombian).
According to the 2000 Census, 99 percent of Dominicans (and 93 percent of all Latinos)
residing in the US are concentrated in urban centers.88
Given the degree of urban concentration, this information allows a certain level of
credibility to using state level data to estimate citizenship numbers by Latino group
and adult citizen population numbers at the congressional district level. Thus, it is
assumed that the demographic distribution and citizenship
percentages found at the state
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level would be similar to those found at the congressional district level.89
Based on this assumption, a list was produced of the top 100 congressional districts
with large constituencies (meaning any district with a population of over 500)
of Dominican descendants throughout the nation, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Moreover, an estimate of the potential Latino voting capacity within each of
these districts was obtained.
While a lack of available data has limited the research findings,
this report identifies the needs and concerns the Dominican community
should have as they build a national agenda. More importantly, the report
has led us to recommend potential agenda items and areas for future research.
For example, the current data sources used did not account for misrepresentation
and undercount, both of which are egregious errors acknowledged by the Census Bureau
that particularly affect new immigrant communities such as Dominicans and
Salvadorians.90,91,92 We believe that with more time and resources it is possible
to get a more accurate estimate with narrower levels of error at all political
geographic demarcations, from school board and city council district to county
and state senate district.93 Moreover, this information could be extended beyond
the Dominican American community to include all major insulated ethnic communities
in the United States.
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