Hispanics in the US are seen as key players in this election year, with efforts underway on the peninsula to increase voter turnout, which is at a historic low.
The League of Women Voters of South San Mateo County, Anamatangi Polynesian Voices, and Youth Community Service are committed to engaging people from the Latino and Polynesian communities.
An estimated 36 million Hispanic voters are eligible to vote in the upcoming election, and an estimated 1.4 million are eligible to vote each year. This voting group could make a difference in swing states.
At the local level, the goal is to make people aware of the issues that affect them in their neighborhood and how their voice counts in the decisions that are made there.
In East Palo Alto, there is a strong push to engage voters in the Latino community, where barriers remain. There is still uncertainty about the process, political marginalization and complexity of the ballot, according to ‘Anamatangi Polynesian Voices.
Oliver Santiago-Mendez is only 16 years old and is learning all about voter registration while working at Youth Community Service.
“I decided to get involved with Youth Community Service because I was told that I was defined as someone who likes to help the community,” Santiago-Mendez said. “And so, when I saw what this service, what this program offers, I felt like it was something that I would really connect with.”
By using youth ambassadors like Santiago-Mendez, future voters are informed and registered. The league has set up a page to make it easy for people to get involved: vote411.org.
“We feel like our voices aren’t being heard, it motivates us,” Santiago-Mendez said. “People who think it doesn’t matter. Even if it’s one of two voices, our voices matter.”
According to Albert Camarillo, a professor of history at Stanford, the Latino vote could be decisive in key states in a neck-and-neck race at the national level.
“In places like Pennsylvania, where there’s about 200,000 or 600,000, there’s a significant increase from eight years ago,” Camarillo said. “And in a state like that, it’s going to be a razor-thin margin, it all depends on how that Latino vote turns out.”
Furthermore, not all Latinos vote the same; national origin and generation matter. Speaking of immigration, a Cuban American in Florida will identify differently with the issue than a first-generation Mexican American in California.
Camarillo noted that the current political climate is somewhat similar to the 1990s, when Hispanic voters mobilized after an anti-immigration ballot initiative. It has also mobilized Latino politicians for years.
“Political power brings other kinds of resources to communities and Latinos learned that and realized that voting power means economic power, means cultural power, means opportunity,” Camarillo said. “That’s why I think you see so much emphasis on the swing states now, but in a state like California, which has a huge voting power.”
If voting data shows that Hispanic voters played a critical role in crucial states, it could bring more attention to the economic challenges, affordable housing and education issues facing the Latino community.
