LATINOS DO VOTE: WELCOME TO THE SHIFT AND THE NEW CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN STORY

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

Today America finds itself at a new crossroads – our culture, our country and our companies are changing again. It’s a shift from exclusion to inclusion from borders to bridges; it’s the new chapter of the American story where our country becomes richer. Hispanic babies are being born this very minute and are like knights in shining armor riding in to save the age of the American boomer. We are replenishing a nation with an endless source of passion, hard work and rhythm. So take a breath, take it all in because we are a part of that shift! Latinos are shifting the message and the thinking because we are not just brown but we are white, black, blonde and so much more! We get to see the shift come to life! Welcome to the next big thing; it’s the end of a niche and the birth of what’s next! -2012 Hispanic Voice Town Hall Tour across America

HISPANICS 2012 “WE DO VOTE!”

“THE 2012 HISPANIC VOICE TOWN HALL TOUR WILL DEFINE AN AGENDA FOR HISPANICS IN AMERICA TO HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND WHY WE MUST PLAY A MORE ACTIVE AND INFLUENTIAL ROLE IN THE REINVENTION OF AMERICA” -FOUNDER GREG LLOPIS

photo source AP

The League of United Latin American Citizens explains how the Latino vote has become a pivotal factor for many political candidates, including the presidency. Estimates from the U.S. Census and the rapid expansion of the population have created a tidal wave of activities aimed at attracting the Hispanic vote across the nation. Even Hollywood gets involved from Rosario Dawson, to Wilmer Valderrama to Eva Longoria are only a few of the actors/actresses getting involved.

photo source Getty Images

Since 1990, 1.5 million Latinos have naturalized. There are 6.6 million registered Latino voters across the nation. In California, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New York, five key electoral states, Latinos have emerged as powerful allies for candidates seeking office. Consider that at 50.5 million, the U.S. Latino population is already larger than the entire population of England and Spain. Latinos are not just large in population size, they have the double distinction of being the youngest and fastest-growing group in the nation.

SALVADOR GUERRERO / SHFWire Brent A. Wilkes, right, of LULAC, and Jose Calderon, left, of the Hispanic Federation are working with Hector Sanchez, of LACLAA, to launch Movimiento Hispano, a website dedicated to increase Latino Voter turnout.

The Hispanic Federation, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and the League of United Latin American Citizens announced their joint effort in February called Latinos for Democracy, which focuses on voting in the Latino community. The group has coordinated its efforts in 24 states and use the Movimiento Hispano project’s website to help Latinos stay informed on the latest political news.

photo source AP

Over the past 10 years, the members of LFD have worked with over 2.1 million Latino Trade unionists, 135,000 volunteer members, and over 100 community-based organizations to advance Latino voter mobilization. The Hispanic vote is growing by leaps and bounds. Nearly 10 million Latinos voted in the 2008 Presidential elections – an increase of almost 30% from 2004. And just think about the fact that every year for the next twenty years, 500,000 Hispanics will turn 18 in the United States.

Groups such as the the 2012 Hispanic Voice Town Hall Tour, is a group of Young Latinos ready to to change the story about Hispanics in this country. They’re ready to play a more prominent role in how our community influences policy makers, corporate leaders, and the rest of America. They’re starting to express themselves with a new attitude and a new sense of purpose. They’re excited to use the 2012 Hispanic Voice platform to showcase a new, energized Hispanic voice, a voice that hasn’t yet been fully unleashed. And most importantly, they want results: Less talking, more doing!

Cuauhtemoc “Temo” Figueroa, Obama’s top Latino outreach official, said [Texas] could be taken seriously as a presidential battleground if Democrats could win statewide races there in 2010. “I don’t know if it’s four years or eight years off, but down the road, Texas will be a presidential battleground,” Figueroa said. The reason is demographics. Across the Southwest, Latino voters are increasingly powerful. In Colorado, their share of the vote went from 8% in 2004 to 13% in 2008. Nevada, 10% to 15%. New Mexico, 32% to 41%. Every 30 seconds, a Latino is added to the American population, the fastest rate of any minority group. By 2050, Hispanics will represent 29 percent of the American population. In 2008, Latinos voted 67-31 for Barack Obama. Texas is already 35 percent Hispanic. You can see where this is going. http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2008/11/when-will-we-see-blue-texas-hispanics-will-decide

Driven by some Republicans’ sharp attacks on illegal immigration and — as many Hispanics perceived it, immigrants in general — Latino voters fled the GOP en masse in the midterm elections, then turned on John McCain, as well. He got 31 percent of the Latino vote to the 44 percent that George W. Bush took in 2004, according to exit polls. And it was enough to put much of the West and Southwest out of reach for the Republican Party, to give Florida to the Democrats and to hand Barack Obama the presidency. Now, as Obama moves to solidify his advantage, Republican leaders are sounding the alarm on what could be the party’s most pressing national challenge.

“Viva Bush” signs were prevalent when then-Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush made a campaign stop in Mesilla, New Mexico in 2000. Tracy Greer/Fronteras

JUST BECAUSE THEY SAY WE CAN’T DOESN’T MEAN WE WON’T! IN NOVEMBER OUR VOICE WILL ROAR!

There are hundreds of Latino organizations and/or local chapters taking charge by registering voters and creating an unprecedented Get Out The Vote movement across our nation. Groups such as Voto Latino, National Coucil of la Raza, the Tequila Party, Southwest Voter Registration, etc. and even local groups  like Mi Famila Vota in Las Vegas and Arizona, AACT NOW in South Texas, Teamsters in Chicago, etc. are doing their part to spearhead revolutions this November. The media is leading the public to believe that the Latino vote does not count or that the registrations numbers are down, but the truth is that the Latino vote and voice is powerful and in a few months it will be heard!

The GOP nominee will need a minimum of 35-40% of the Hispanic vote to be competitive in November, and that Marco Rubio offers the best opportunity to get there due to the rapid growth of the Hispanic population in a number of crucial swing states.

Alicia Menendez on MSNBC w/ Ben Monterroso of Mi familia Vota & Frank Donatelli

Hispanic rights activists holding a rally in 2010 at the Teamsters Local 705 hall in Chicago.

Groups such as the non-partisan Mi Familia Vota (My Family Votes) consists of Hispanic families all across Nevada not only working to register voters, but to also turn out the vote in November. Five days a week, about 20 staff members and several volunteers of Mi Familia Vota meet and brainstorm on ways to get the Latino community engaged in the voting process.  For now, they are visiting popular places within the Hispanic community. But in a few months, they will be going to door to door throughout neighborhoods. “We go to their grocery stores. While they are buying tortillas, we are telling them it’s time to vote. They are at the grocery stores.  They are at the 99 cents stores, at the carneceria’s, at the DMV,” said Leo Murrieta with Mi Familia Vota.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH WHAT MI FAMILIA VOTA IS DOING

BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE NON-PARTISAN “AACT NOW” IS DOING TO REGISTER VOTERS AND GET OUT THE VOTE IN SOUTH TEXAS. THIS GROUP WAS FOUNDED BY THE REAL ESTATE TYCOON AND BILLIONAIRE FROM MCALLEN, TX.

HISPANICS HAVE REACHED A TURNING POINT, SO JUST BECAUSE THE MEDIA CHOOSES NOT TO FEATURE OUR LATINO MOVEMENT THE REALITY IS THAT IT IS HAPPENING AND WE ARE MOBILIZING! HISPANICS WILL SHOW AMERICA IN 2012 THAT THE SLEEPING GIANT IS AWAKE AND THAT OUR VOICES ARE ROARING. LATINOS WILL NO LONGER BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED…WELCOME TO THE SHIFT…WE ARE THE FUTURE!!!!

2012: THE “MINORITY” VOTE IS ON FIRE

Jealous said the NAACP is the only group outside of the two major political parties with a voter database for all 50 states. Photo credit: Ishton W. Morton

The NAACP has also launched its nationwide drive to register thousands of mostly minority, student and elderly voters before the November 6th, 2012 elections. The organization has chosen the State of Georgia to launch its voter registration push. According to NAACP President Ben Jealous, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization will work harder and smarter to meet the new voting requirements. He framed them as a negative reaction to historic voter turnout in 2008 that led to Barack Obama’s election as the first black U.S. president.

Referencing the 2008 election he continued to say “Were we students of history, we would’ve expected that night, when everybody was celebrating, that we needed to be preparing for what we’re dealing with right now. We saw the largest most diverse presidential electorate this country has ever seen.

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DOES VOTER TURNOUT AMONG HISPANICS DECREASE AFTER STRICT VOTER ID LAWS?

THE HISPANIC BLOG IS THE LATEST HISPANIC NEWS BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

Analyzing Minority Turnout After Voter ID

Minnesota currently has a proposed constitutional amendment moving through its legislature to impose strict photo ID restrictions on voters and possibly eliminate Election Day registration. I take great pride in the fact that my home state of Minnesota consistently has the highest turnout in the country, and I’m pained by this legislation that is sure to reduce opportunities for voter participation across the state.

I want to correct a common misperception that came up during show, suggesting that voter turnout among Hispanic voters in Georgia has increased since the passage of its restrictive no-photo, no-vote photo ID law.

Motivation for voter turnout is notoriously difficult to measure. It’s a moving target, not lending itself easily to empirical methods of evaluation. But in this case, any assertion that voter turnout among Hispanics increased in Georgia following enactment of its strict voter ID law is simply not true.

According to the GA Secretary of State,Georgia’s Hispanic turnout (calculated as a percentage of registered voters) was lower in 2010 than in 2006, and it was lower in 2008 than in 2004. See table below:

Registered Hispanic Voters Actual Hispanic Voters Hispanic Turnout %
2004 30,148 18,240 60.5%
2006 43,514 11,601 26.7%
2008 73,375 43,717 59.6%
2010 75,658 19,320 25.5%

The number of Hispanic voters was greater in the 2010 election than in the 2006 election, and in the 2008 election than in the 2004 election, as the total population of registered Hispanic voters increased by 73.9 percent and 144 percent, respectively. However, there was a slight reduction in the percentage of voter turnout for Hispanics between presidential election years 2004 and 2008 and non-presidential election years 2006 and 2010.

While simple turnout numbers from a single state cannot tell us exactly what impact new voter restrictions have on voter turnout, it’s clear that in Georgia, the percentage of minority voter turnout has not increased following enactment of its strict voter ID law.

Strict voter ID laws are absolutely the wrong policy direction for this country. Voter participation rates across all racial, ethnic and socio-economic are dropping each election year. Georgia has seen voter participation rates in the fastest growing ethnic population over the past decade stay flat or decline.  As we consider what is best for America, increased voter participation is essential to restoring faith in our democracy and strict voter ID laws that fail to solve any real problems are wrong for America.

READ MORE: http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/analyzing_minority_turnout_after_voter_id/

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God Bless and may you have a fabulous day!

powered by Influential Access – “Transforming the Ordinary to EXTRAordinary!” – CEO – Jessica Marie Gutierrez – Creator of The Hispanic Blog #thehispanicblog

IS THE HISPANIC VOTER TURNOUT INCREASING IN ARIZONA?

THE HISPANIC BLOG BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ

Arizona‘s Emerging Latino Vote

 

PHOENIX (CBS5) -The Latino vote is growing in Arizona and lawmakers are taking notice. State Senator Jerry Lewis was among the speakers at the Town Hall today called Arizona’s Emerging Latino Vote.Arizona Latino Research Enterprise and the Raul H. Castro Institute at Phoenix Collegesponsored the event.The groups say Latino voter turnout in the Phoenix city elections tripled last year and of the total Latino voters in the state eighty percent of them are concentrated in Maricopa and Pima counties.

“So if you hit those counties and you’re effective at what you’re doing you’re going to have a dramatic impact, not just on those counties, the concentration of those urban center there, but you’re going to have an impact, ultimately on general elections, statewide elections,” shared James Garcia with the Arizona Hispanic Chamber.

The groups say Latino voters played a pivotal role in at least four races in Maricopa County last year including the recall of former State Senate President Russell Pearce.

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If you have any questions, concerns or simply would like to get a quote on my Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media and/or Events services, please feel free to contact me at thehispanicblog@gmail.com.

God Bless and may you have a fabulous day!

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WILL HISPANICS COME OUT AND VOTE IN 2012?

THE HISPANIC BLOG BY JESSICA MARIE GUTIERREZ: VOTER TURNOUT

Number of Hispanic voters projected to increase 26 percent

Hispanic voter turnout in 2008 was 9.7 million, and is expected to reach 12.2 million this year. The interest group said the increased projection is due in part to the estimated 50,000 Latinos who turn 18 each month.

“Latinos continue to reshape the nation’s political map, and the Latino electorate will play a decisive role in Election 2012,” NALEO executive director Arturo Vargas said in a statement.

If the group’s projection holds true, Latinos will account for at least 8.7 percent of the country’s voters in November.

Reead more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/feb/10/number-hispanic-voters-projected-increase-26-perce/

SUBSCRIBE to The Hispanic Blog and stay on top of the latest Latino news, politics and entertainment!

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If you have any questions, concerns or simply would like to get a quote on my Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media and/or Events services, please feel free to contact me at thehispanicblog@gmail.com.

God Bless and may you have a fabulous day!

powered by Influential Access – “Transforming the Ordinary to EXTRAordinary!” – CEO – Jessica Marie Gutierrez – Creator of The Hispanic Blog #thehispanicblog

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