RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – This Hispanic Heritage Month, Latinos, the fastest-growing population in North Carolina, have at least 300,000 reasons to celebrate the right to vote as more Hispanic U.S. citizens of voting age prepare to cast their ballots than ever before. “Our objective is to celebrate our music; And use our culture to empower the Latino people to become civically engaged and eventually vote,” Esau Torres, founder of the grassroots, non-partisan group, Grita Canta Vota, told CBS 17’s Baron James. Poll shows Trump leading Harris by 1 point in North Carolina; Stein leading Robinson by 6 points The latest numbers from the North Carolina Board of Elections show that 4% of the state's registered voters check the form’s Hispanic box – a total of more than 300,000 people, marking a 300% increase since 2004. There are more Hispanic voters registered now than ever before to impact local and state elections, as well as help pick the next president of the United States this year.  “It feels really good because I think it’s important,” Victoria Giron, a new U.S. citizen and first-time registered voter, said. “It will change our future.” This skyrocketing voting bloc is far from being monolithic. The issues that matter to Hispanics are just as varied as the people themselves. ”We’re talking abortion, ”Catalina Heitman said. “We’re talking farm workers’ rights. We’re talking just immigration on the border. We’re talking ICE in North Carolina.” “The Latino vote still cares about the economy,” Ingrid Sanchez said. “The Latino vote also cares about foreign policy. The Latino vote also cares about climate control and democracy.”  And Esau Torres added:  “We care about safety. We care about jobs. We care about entrepreneurship. And that one’s really huge because Latinos are the No. 1 group creating new businesses.” The majority of Hispanic voters are Latino also known as Latinx. They’re connected to Latin America – Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, etc. There are more women than men registered and more young people than ever before. “Young Latinas are at the forefront of that,” Catalina Heitman said. “I’m in my 30s and the organization I work with are all young Latinas. So, it’s very inspiring; And they just care.” Most registered NC Hispanics favor Democrats over Republicans. However, almost half have signed up as “unaffiliated” voters. “We’re seeing a lot of things in the state that we don’t agree with,” Iliana Santillan, a community organizer with the grassroots group, “El Pueblo,” said. Nearly 11% of North Carolina’s population is Latino. That’s around 1.1 million people, including one-third over age 18 – all U.S. citizens eligible to vote. However, no Latino or Hispanic has ever been elected to a statewide government position in North Carolina: no state treasurer, no attorney general, no governor, and the list goes on, in the state’s 235-year history. “That’s just really shocking to us,”  Iliana Santillan said. “With the amount of Latino community members that we have in the state, we should have representation at every single level of government.” Meanwhile, Latinos are fighting for more change. Grassroots group “Registro de Votantes” recently registered people to vote at the 2024 ‘La Fiesta Del Pueblo' in Raleigh during Hispanic Heritage Month under the theme this year of “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.” “We focus on community building as a pillar on top of electoral engagement,” Registered voter, Catalina Heitman said. The road to more Hispanic voter victories is often paved with potholes and roadblocks of one challenge after another including language barrier and acceptable identification to register and to vote. “We have voter intimidation all across the state,” Gaby Garcia of the grassroots group, “La Fuerza, said. “I think we are actively committed to ensuring that folks have a fair election process and that people are registered to vote unencumbered by all the things that they would put in front of us to stop us.” According to the North Carolina Demographer’s Office, nearly 59% of registered Latino voters turned out during the 2020 presidential election.