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24 mln Latinos eligible to vote in US presidential elections

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A record 24 million Latinos are eligible to vote in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, according to a report released Monday.

The figure is up by more than 4 million, or 22 percent, since 2008 when 19.5 million Latinos were eligible to vote, according to a report by the Pew Research Center, an American think tank.

Latinos are the country's largest minority group.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2011 there were 51.9 million Latinos in the U.S., making up 16.7 percent of the nation's population.

However, the report said, the turnout rate of eligible Latino voters historically lags that of whites and blacks by substantial margins.

In 2008, 50 percent of eligible Latino voters cast ballots, compared with 65 percent of blacks and 66 percent of whites, according to the report.

Also, despite ongoing Latino population growth, the number of Latinos who said they are registered to vote fell by about 600,000 between 2008 and 2010, the report said.