Latino population 'holds key to US elections'

In the past decade the United States has seen the Hispanic population grow dramatically. The Hispanic populace has grown by 43 percent and account for more than 16-percent of the population. That's over 50 million people.

According to a 2011 PEW immigration research report, Hispanic people are the largest minority group in the US, and as such, they have the potential to determine who will enter the gates of the White House in the next presidential election.

In 2008, Hispanic voters in New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Florida handed Barack Obama the keys to the White House.

Since the last presidential election, Latino voters have grown dramatically.

In North Carolina alone, the number of registered Hispanic voters has almost doubled to more than 130,000 since 2008.

In 2012, the fastest growing minority group now have the ability to exercise more political sway over the US elections than previous years.