Google: Interest in Voting Surges Among Hispanics

If asking Google about how to register to vote translates to votes, the search giant has good news for Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

According to Google, the amount of searches for the Spanish phrase “registrarse para votar,” or “register to vote,” spiked by 2,200 percent over the past week. “Register to vote” in English only saw a 430 percent jump.

This would suggest Hispanics are at least interested in possibly voting, and if they do, the large majority will likely vote for Clinton.

A poll conducted last week by the Wall Street Journal, NBC News and Telemundo found that Clinton enjoys a 48-point lead over her rival, Donald Trump, among likely Hispanic voters. Put another way, 65 percent of likely Hispanic voters support the Democrat.

Republicans struggled with the Hispanic vote in 2012 when Mitt Romney got 27 percent of the vote.

The Washington Post reports that peak interest in “registrarse para votar” came during Monday’s presidential debate and was the third most popular search item in the U.S., behind two search terms related to a shooting in Houston. Google said the search volume was highest in the key swing state of Florida.

Google is actively pushing more Americans to register to vote, with particular emphasis on Hispanic voters.

“We’re doing our part to encourage American voters to get registered for the 2016 election,” the company wrote. “We’ve already added in-depth information in Search for registration and how to vote, and now we’re adding this same information in Spanish.