A recording of today’s call is available here
On a press call this afternoon hosted by America’s Voice and Immigrant Voters Win PAC, community leaders and canvassers discussed voting numbers from the ground in Florida, Nevada, and Colorado. Just a week before Election Day, speakers provided insight into what they are hearing at the doors, what’s going on at the polls, and the impact they expect from minority voters this election cycle.
A recording of today’s call is available here.
Kica Matos of the Center for Community Change Action said, “We’ve built a firewall. Our ground-breaking, massive Immigrant Voters Win PAC Campaign (focused on turning out low propensity Latino and other pro-immigrant voters) is what will ultimately put the election out of reach for Donald Trump. We have said it before and it is worth repeating: opposing immigration reform and attacking immigrant families is a recipe for electoral disaster. There is no path to the White House for anti-immigrant politicians. Mitt Romney proved this in 2012 yet Republicans refused to learn the lesson. They will learn it now or fade into extinction as a national party.”
Maria Rodriguez, Executive Director of FLIC Votes, said, “As others have mentioned, we’ve seen Latinos get engaged in new ways this election cycle. That is certainly the case in Florida. While it narrowly went for Obama in 2012, it is still very much a red state, with the state legislature, governor and attorney general’s office in the hands of Republicans. Latinos have been energized to register to vote to be the wall against Donald Trump’s hatred. The state’s Voting Registration numbers bear that out. A lot of that result can be credited to the hard work that a coalition of civic and political groups have made in trying to get Latinos engaged. If our recent experience with voter registration is any indication, we can expect a lot of people to come out to vote during this last weekend of engagement.”
Francisco Morales, Nevada State Director of the Center for Community Change, said “We are out not only to help turn out Latino voters and really create that firewall, but also to build infrastructure. We have partnered with other groups in Nevada to demand justice for our families. We are collecting very important data, contacting hundreds of thousands of voters, and we have knocked on a quarter million doors in Nevada. One way we are building infrastructure is by promoting canvassers to organizers to create an amazing vehicle of a powerful organizing tool. We know the work that we are doing here will not only affect the election, but will also build the power and human capacity to demand that we get Comprehensive Immigration Reform.”
Lizeth Chacon, Executive Director of Colorado People’s Action, said, “We’re working to turn out the Latino vote and making sure that we defeat Trump. We’re also making sure to make gains in Congress and the state legislature so that both will work towards immigration reform. We’re excited about the progress we have so far. We’re engaging with voters on a conversational level about the candidates and engaging them on the issues they care about – immigration, criminal justice reform, and racial justice. When we talk about raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020, we touch issues that impact their lives. Our canvassers are committed to win this election and these issues in the future after this year’s election.”
