Analysts have revealed that Senator Barack Obama owes his victory in the American presidential elections in part to the support of the country's ‘minorities', if this is the right word to describe the 41 million Hispanic Americans and 34 million Afro-Americans that live in the United States according to Minority Rights Group. These communities have rarely been so homogeneous in their voting habits than in the presidential election on November 4, 2008.

Obama won 95% of the Afro-American vote and participation among the black community was up 11% on four years ago. The 15 million Afro-Americans who turned out to vote now represent 13% of the electorate as a whole.

As for the Latino vote, 66% of Hispanic American voters backed Barack Obama overall. Four years ago only 50% voted for John Kerry. Analysts say that the Latino vote was crucial for the Democratic candidate's victory in several key battleground states, including Florida, Nevada and New Mexico which carry 37 electoral college votes in total. The other states which voted for Bush four years ago but Obama this time were Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Colorado and Virginia.

In Florida, where Latinos make up 14% of the voting population, 57% of Hispanic American voters backed Obama. 78% of Latinos voted for the Democratic candidate in Nevada (where they make up 15% of the population), while 69% backed him in New Mexico (where Latinos represent 41% of the population).

Further information:

• AP: Minorities, single women, young whites back Obama
• NYTimes.com: In Big Shift, Latino Vote Was Heavily for Obama
• ELPAÍS.com: El voto joven y el de las minorías propiciaron la victoria demócrata
• Chron.com: Latino voters flip red states to blue
• Opinion article by Aureli Argemí in Nationalia: ‘Minorities' behind Obama's victory: ‘Yes, we can'