Today America’s Voice hosted a press call to highlight the substantial Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts seeking to engage and mobilize Latino, Asian, and immigrant voters in a number of battleground states– just in time for the mid-term elections. Combined, these efforts total more than $5.4 million and will mobilize at least one million voters across the country.
Latino voters are building upon record levels of participation in 2008 and are poised to make a difference in 2010 and 2012. As recent polls have indicated, the immigration debate continues to be an issue of top concern for Latino voters, a major driver of Latino political engagement, and a key point of distinction between the two parties. Participants in today’s call emphasized the impact of the immigration debate on Latino voter engagement — everything from the delays in passing federal immigration reform to Arizona’s SB1070 to the recent blockage of the DREAM Act and attacks on the 14th amendment.
Aparna Shah, Coordinating Director of the Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (MIV) California Collaborative and a partner in the We Are America Alliance, underscored the commitment she is seeing from immigrant voters this year:
Latinos, Asians, and immigrant voters continue to be driven by isues of immigration, the economy, and education. Since these are the critical themes in this election, our communities in particular will be turning out to make our voices heard.
Rafael Collazo, National Deputy Director of Democracia USA stated:
From the response we’ve seen in the Latino community and the impressive numbers of Latinos registering to vote, I believe that our community realizes the importance of this election. With so many issues at stake, like immigration, unemployment, and the road to economic recovery, I think we will see people motivated to participate in the process. Democracia wants to ensure we keep that motivation going up until Election Day and that’s why we are involved in a robust GOTV program across the states where we operate.
As key issues like immigration and the economy continue to lead the debate in states like California, Arizona, and Colorado, advocates hope that this multi-million dollar campaign will help translate Latino and immigrant power at the voting booth into action by Congress on these communities’ priorities.