October 3, 2016
Contact:
Julian Teixeira
‘We Will Be Heard Loud and Clear on November 8!’
As
Voter Registration Deadline Nears, NCLR and Miami Dade College Join
Forces to Encourage All Eligible Florida Latinos to Register
MIAMI—Today, NCLR (National
Council of La Raza), Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Institute
for
Civic Engagement and Democracy,
and NCLR Affiliate Mexican-American Council revealed the results of
their combined efforts to increase the number of registered Latino
voters in Florida, and announced that their work to register all
eligible Hispanic voters would continue until the state’s registration
deadline of Oct. 11.
To date, NCLR has
registered more than 46,000 voters in Florida through statewide
community canvassing by teams of trained canvassers, many with years of
community outreach experience, who are helping prospective voters
navigate the registration process. Studies have shown that
person-to-person contact is one of the most effective methods to help
those who are eligible to register to vote.
“We have seen how
important Florida is to the outcomes of national elections, and this
election will be no exception. The number of Latino voters in the state
doubled between 2000 and 2012, and these numbers have continued to
grow. As we near the registration deadline, we’ll continue knocking on
doors, making phone calls, and running that last mile to make sure that
everyone who is eligible is registered,” said Renata Soto,
Chair
of the NCLR Board of Directors.
“This
is not about partisanship—it’s about participation,” Soto said. “It’s
about making sure that our elected officials focus on the issues that
are important to us: good schools, safe streets, healthy communities, a
better economy, sound immigration policies, and building a strong and
inclusive society. Unfortunately in this election, Latinos in general
and immigrants in particular have been used as scapegoats, or ignored
outright. But today I am here to say that we will be heard loud and
clear on November 8!” Soto added.
Dr. Rick Soria,
President of Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus, spoke about the steps
the academic institution has taken to create a culture of civic
engagement for young Latinos.
“As Democracy’s College, MDC
proudly serves students from over 190 nations, speaking over 90
languages. Our institutional leadership continues to stress your vote
is your voice. We actively engaged our students through all our many
student clubs, and have partnered with TurboVote to create a
college-wide series of events across all eight of its campuses, helping
thousands of students register to vote and learn about the key issues
on the ballot. We are a large and strong population and we must be
heard,” Dr. Soria added.
NCLR’s national Latinos Vote 2016
nonpartisan voter registration campaign has included both proven
traditional methods and innovative tactics. NCLR is reaching
prospective voters in person through multistate community canvassing,
Affiliates, service providers and small businesses. Online, the
groundbreaking Latinos Vote app and web tool
put registration at users’ fingertips and allow them to help others
register just by sharing their phones. In schools, the newly developed High School Democracy Project
provides an easy curriculum to help schools register their eligible
high school seniors. NCLR also continues to engage potential voters
with proven methods such as issue education and engagement and
collaborations with media partners.
Led by its President Maria Garza, NCLR Affiliate Mexican-American
Council has registered approximately 300 voters this year in the
rural, working-class community of Homestead, Florida.
“We
serve hardworking American families who are eager to participate fully
in our democracy,” said Garza. “What we tell people is that it doesn’t
matter who you vote for—what matters is that you vote. By becoming a
voter, our people can ensure that elected officials hear their concerns
and create policies that provide them with better opportunities to
succeed.”
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic
civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to
improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on
NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org
or follow us on Facebook
and Twitter.
Miami Dade College
(MDC) is the higher education institution with the largest
undergraduate enrollment in the America, with more than 165,000
students. It is also the nation’s top producer of Associate in Arts and
Science degrees and awards more degrees to minorities than any other
college or university in the country. The college’s eight campuses and
outreach center offer more than 300 distinct degree pathways including
several baccalaureate degrees in education, public safety, supervision
and management, nursing, physician assistant studies, film,
engineering, biological sciences, and others. In fact, its academic and
workforce training programs are national models of excellence. MDC is
also renowned for its rich cultural programming. It is home of the
Miami Book Fair, Miami Film Festival, the MDC Live Arts
Performing Arts Series, the National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom
Tower, a major sculpture park and large art gallery and theater
systems. MDC has admitted more than 2,000,000 students and counting
since it opened its doors in 1960. For more information, please visit
www.mdc.edu.
August
24, 2016
Contact:
Camila
Gallardo
NCLR Latino Vote Fellows
Helping to Register Eligible Hispanic Voters
in Multi-State Push to Increase Electorate
WASHINGTON, D.C.—As
Election Day
approaches, NCLR (National Council of La Raza) has continued its push
to help eligible Latinos around the country register to vote before
states’ voter registration deadlines. A key part of that work has been
collaboration between NCLR and its Latino Vote Fellows. The fellows,
who were selected in March, are community leaders selected from NCLR’s
network of Affiliate organizations to conduct voter registration and
promote turnout in their communities. In the lead-up to Election Day,
the fellows are holding voter registration events in their respective
states. States with a Latino Vote Fellow include Ohio, Pennsylvania,
California and North Carolina.
NCLR
has been working closely with its inaugural class of Latino Vote
Fellows to reach out to the estimated 27.3 million Latinos eligible to
vote. Numbers demonstrate that once registered, Latinos show up to the
polls in significant numbers. Recent figures by NALEO estimate that
13.1 million Latinos will cast their vote this November.
“The
Latino Vote Fellows are a key component to what NCLR is doing this year
to increase the participation of Latinos in local, state and national
elections. Reaching out to their local communities by incorporating
voter registration as part of the services they offer and hosting
targeted registration events makes it possible to expand the reach to
get eligible Latinos to become active participants in our electoral
process,” said Janet Hernandez, Senior Project Manager, Civic
Engagement, NCLR.
The
fellows will help conduct voter registration events in their respective
states, which include Ohio, Pennsylvania, California and North
Carolina, among many others. Earlier this month, AltaMed, a California
NCLR Affiliate where Latino Vote Fellow Elizabeth Bille serves as
Manager of Legislative and Advocacy Affairs, held a voter registration
drive during its weeklong celebration of National Health Center Week.
In
addition, NCLR is growing Latino participation with both proven
traditional methods and innovative tactics. Its Latinos Vote 2016
campaign is reaching prospective voters in person through multistate
community canvassing, Affiliates, service providers and small
businesses. Online, the groundbreaking Latinos
Vote
app and web
tool put
registration at users’ fingertips and allow them to help others
register just by sharing their phones. In schools, a newly developed
High School Democracy Project provides an easy curriculum to help
schools register their eligible high school seniors. NCLR is also
engaging potential voters through issue education collaborations with
media partners.
“Incorporating
the element of voter registration and voter education throughout these
events helps connect voting to issues critical to the Latino community.
The state of our health care system, the quality of education we are
providing to our kids through our public school system, our nation’s
immigration laws—all these things are tied directly to the people we
elect to local, state and national office,” Hernandez added.
Among
those selected for the Latino Vote Fellows program, in addition to
Bille, were Mike Toledo, NCLR Board Member and Executive Director of
Centro Hispano in Reading, Penn.; Veronica Dahlberg of HOLA in
Ashtabula, Ohio; Miguel Figueras, Youth Program Coordinator for El
Pueblo, Inc. in Raleigh, N.C.; and Alejandra Quezada, Communications
Director, El Concilio, in Stockton, Calif.
Bios
of several of our vote fellows are below. Additional bios and
information about the Latino Vote Fellows program are available on our website.
Manager, Legislative and Advocacy Affairs
Elizabeth
Bille is the Manager of Legislative & Advocacy Affairs at AltaMed
Health Services. She is involved in the coordination of legislative,
advocacy and civic engagement activities, as well as public policy
analysis. Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of Houston, and
holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and history. Elizabeth
was also elected Vice President of the Sun Valley Area Neighborhood
Council for the City of Los Angeles, which promotes civic engagement as
a way for residents to voice their neighborhood’s needs to the local
government.
Michael
Toledo is the Executive Director of the Centro Hispano Daniel Torres
Inc. in Reading, Pennsylvania, and joined the NCLR Board of Directors
in 2016. Michael is a member of the 2015 inaugural class of the
Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a partnership designed for
leaders who share a commitment to solving society’s greatest
challenges. From 2013 to 2015, he served as the state lead for NCLR’s
Pennsylvania Affiliates on Capitol Hill. While in this role, he focused
on providing the Latino perspective on education, the federal budget,
workforce development and more.
Alejandra
Quezada has lived in the United States for the past 11 years. She is
currently the Communications Director of the California-San Joaquin
region at El Concilio. Alejandra has always worked closely with the
Latino community in education and civic engagement.
NCLR—the
largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the
United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.
For more information on NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
April 7, 2016
Contact:
Camila Gallardo
NCLR Ramps Up Latino Vote 2016 Campaign in the
Sunshine State
Community
canvassing underway in South and Central Florida to help thousands of
eligible Latinos become voters
MIAMI—Today,
at its Florida Regional Office in Miami, NCLR President and CEO Janet
Murguía was joined by NCLR Affiliates and local elected officials to
formally launch NCLR’s ground effort to register eligible Latino
voters. The campaign builds on NCLR’s 35-year track record in policy
advocacy campaigns at the federal and state levels, and a decade in the
electoral arena registering more than 500,000 voters. In 2012, the
organization ran the largest nonpartisan voter registration campaign in
Florida, registering 55,987 in communities in Central and South Florida.
“Few
states will play as important a role in this year’s election as
Florida, and few constituencies will be as key as the growing Hispanic
vote in the Sunshine State. Our job as a nonpartisan voter engagement
organization is to make sure as many of these voters as
possible—especially young Latinos—register and go to the polls in
November. Our participation will make a difference not only in the
presidential race but in critically important state and local races as
well. The future well-being of our community depends on the strength
and power of our voice,” stated Murguía.
Florida has the nation’s
third-largest Hispanic population in the nation with almost five
million Latinos. According to the Florida Division of Elections, of the
2.6 million Latinos who are citizens of voting age, 800,000 still need
to register.
“Florida’s Hispanic population has grown
significantly in the past several election cycles, but despite this
growth in numbers of eligible voters, many Hispanics who are eligible
have yet to register. That is why I’m happy to be here today to support
the launch of NCLR’s nonpartisan on-the-ground campaign to get more of
our community involved in the process,” said State Representative Jose
Felix Diaz.
NCLR’s efforts to increase the Latino electorate in
Florida include teams of trained, bilingual canvassers, many with years
of community outreach experience who are ready to help prospective
voters navigate the registration process. Studies have shown that
person-to-person contact is one of the most effective methods to help
those who are eligible to register to vote.
“I’m pleased to join
with NCLR today to launch an important campaign that will increase
Hispanic civic participation. We play a critical role in weaving the
social fabric of Floridian communities like the one I represent in
Doral, and that is why it is crucial we make our voices heard through
the power of our vote. I urge all those eligible in our communities to
take advantage of nonpartisan assistance like the one NCLR is providing
to help you register to vote in the upcoming elections,” said City of
Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz.
NCLR is growing Latino
participation with both proven traditional methods and innovative
tactics. Its Latinos Vote 2016 campaign is reaching prospective voters
in person through multistate community canvassing, Affiliates, service
providers and small businesses. Online, the groundbreaking Latinos Vote
app and web
tool
put registration at users’ fingertips and allow them to help others
register just by sharing their phones. In schools, a newly developed
high school democracy project provides an easy curriculum to help
schools register their eligible high school seniors. NCLR also
continues to engage potential voters with proven methods such as issue
education and engagement and collaborations with media partners.
“At
the Mexican American Council we strive to help young people achieve a
brighter future while becoming more engaged in their communities and in
civic life. We are excited to join NCLR today to help promote voter
registration and turnout within our Latino communities throughout
Florida, particularly among young Latinos in our community who have so
much at stake this November,” said Maria Garza, President,
Mexican-American Council.
NCLR—the largest national Hispanic
civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to
improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on
NCLR, please visit www.nclr.org
or follow along on Facebook
and Twitter.
February 17, 2016
Contact:
Camila Gallardo
National Latino Organizations Launch “Our Vote,
Our Future”
Ahead
of Nevada Caucuses, where 17 percent of the electorate is Latino,
national organizations announce strategic partnership to engage
millions of Latinos in 2016 elections.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In
2016, more than 27 million Latinos will be eligible to vote, but more
than 12 million of those eligible voters remain unregistered.
Which
is why during a press conference today, the National Latino Civic
Engagement Table announced a strategic voter engagement partnership
among the nation’s leading Latino organizations to galvanize and
motivate millions of Latinos ahead of the 2016 elections.
The
National Latino Civic Engagement Table consists of the Hispanic
Federation, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA),
Latino Victory Foundation, the League of United Latin American Citizens
(LULAC), Mi Familia Vota Education Fund (MFVEF), National Association
of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund,
NCLR (National Council of La Raza) and Voto Latino
“Civic
participation is fundamental to empowering our community. Over the last
several years, the Latino vote has become a decisive element in the
presidential election with its importance continually increasing.
Through our combined efforts and partnerships, we are committed to
expanding and mobilizing Latinos to have a real impact on the ballot
box this November. As trusted partners of the community, we are
determined to make in-roads that will cement future policy decisions
that benefit and empower the national agenda for our families.” said Hector
Sanchez,
Executive
Director,
Labor
Council
for Latin American
Advancement (LCLAA).
“For
more than 10 years, Voto Latino has put Latino millennials at the
forefront of our work by engaging them through civic media and meeting
them where they are both online and offline,” said Maria
Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voto Latino.
“Through strategic partnerships that include Google, Live Nation,
Latina Magazine, and YouTube, we will continue to build campaigns that
tap into young American Latinos inherent leadership to foster political
power through Election Day and beyond.”
“NCLR is proud to join
with our Latino sister organizations to grow the voice of those
Americans interested in advancing real solutions and rejecting
fear-mongering. NCLR is helping eligible Latinos become voters, using
new technologies like our NCLR/mitú voter
registration app,
door-to-door canvassing and community issue campaigns and
culturally-competent outreach and social media, to maximize our reach
as well as the Latino community’s critical voice in American politics,”
said Janet Murguía, President and CEO, NCLR.
“The
race for the White House will be decided by the Latino electorate,
including the more than 194,000 Nevada Latino voters who we expect to
cast ballots in Election 2016,” stated Arturo Vargas, National
Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
Educational Fund executive director.
“Translating an ad into Spanish is no longer enough. Candidates and
political parties will need to acknowledge the diversity of this
increasingly influential electorate by engaging Latino voters in both
English and Spanish on the issues that matter most.”
“The road to
the White House goes through the streets of the Latino barrios. Any
candidate who aspires to represent us needs to engage in meaningful
conversation with the Latino community on the topics that affect us:
immigration, healthcare, education, workers’ rights, and climate
change,” said Ben Monterroso, Executive Director of Mi Familia
Vota Education Fund.
“We continue working diligently to convey to our community that by
electing the government officials and representatives that will best
fight for our families, our community, and our country, we will take
charge of our destiny and shape our future. It is time to say enough,
enough of using our families and our ethnic and racial heritage as
political pawns and scapegoats. ”
“The Latino community is
growing, but demography isn’t destiny – numbers alone are not enough.
When Latinos and Latinas don’t participate and don’t vote, we are
robbed of a voice and a seat at the table. And the old saying is true:
if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” said Cristobal
Alex,
“ That’s why we’re all here. Because we want to ensure that our
community is engaged, informed, registered, and ready to vote. Latinos
have proven in the past that we can make a difference, 2016 won’t be
the exception.
“It is unfortunate that the presidential campaign
is being dominated by anti-immigrant, anti-minority, anti-Latino
rhetoric,” said LULAC National Executive Director Brent Wilkes.
“The
only
way
to
fight
back
is to vote and that’s where our
organizations come in. During past presidential elections, Latinos in
Nevada have played a significant role in deciding the winning
candidate. In 2016 our organizations are working to ensure that the
state’s 328,000 registered Latino voters are well informed on not only
on where to vote but also on the candidates’ views on issues that
matter to Latinos. Our efforts in Nevada will build on our recent
success in Iowa. In that effort, LULAC of Iowa reached nearly 50,000
people through phone calls, mailers, and caucus training. In the end,
we will demonstrate that the Latino vote matters and candidates who
engage in hateful rhetoric will pay the price at the ballot box.”
“All
eyes are on Latinos in 2016. That’s not only because we’re at the
center of debates on immigration and other issues taking place across
the country, but because more than 27 million of us will be eligible to
vote this year. It means that now, more than ever, we need to make our
voices heard. By working with local community-based organizations,
citizen councils, labor chapters and faith-based institutions, we are
committed to spearheading a historic grassroots outreach and
mobilization campaign that will ensure that Latinos play a decisive
role in determining the next President of the United States,” said José
Calderón,
President
of
the
Hispanic
Federation.
