1 Million Voters : Latino Groups Launch Effort to Achieve Goal

A number of Latino political experts are calling the 1992 elections in California a “golden window of opportunity”--both for electing Latino candidates and drawing a record number of Latino voters to the polls.

“We have the unique opportunity of electing a lot” of Latinos this year, Antonia Hernandez, president of MALDEF, told Latino officials and voter registration volunteers last month at a Burbank conference.

This year “will be a watershed for Latino political participation in California,” said Richard Martinez, executive director of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

Part of their optimism stems from new districts in Congress and the state Legislature--created in this year’s redistricting process--that are conducive to electing Latinos. Because of the Latino population surge, documented in the 1990 Census, redistricting in Los Angeles County resulted in six Assembly districts (compared to three previously) and four congressional districts (compared to three) with Latino-population majorities.

Yet, while this year’s opportunities are significant, “let’s take everything with a grain of salt and see that we have a long way to go,” said Harry Pachon, executive director of NALEO, the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

“I think it’s sad,” Pachon said, “that in the California ‘Super Bowl of politics,’ involving two senatorial elections and the presidential race, over half of the Latino population will be sitting on the sidelines unable to participate.”

He was referring to the fact that among Latino adults--those 18 or older--51.5% in this state are not eligible to vote because they are not U.S. citizens.

And among citizens, only half are registered to vote.

Nevertheless, Latino political and community organizations have set forth a plan to get 1 million Latinos statewide to vote in the Nov. 3 general election.

The campaign is not expected to develop its full force until this summer, after the June 2 primary elections that will select candidates for both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Martinez said his organization will help train and provide support to various Latino grass-roots groups that will work to register voters and encourage them to turn out. LULAC (the League of United Latin American Citizens), MAPA (Mexican American Political Assn.) and other community and labor groups are participating in the campaign.

The effort, Martinez said, involves various elements:

- Encouraging those who are not U.S. citizens to complete a process to become naturalized citizens.

- Registering those who are eligible to vote.

- Having registered voters sign cards pledging that they will vote in November. Addresses supplied on these cards will be used to contact individuals near election time to remind them to vote.

- Providing applications for absentee ballots.

This effort, along with voter registration drives undertaken by political parties and individual candidates, are expected to result in 300,000 additional Latino registered voters by the fall, said Martinez.

About 840,000 Latinos voted in each of the last two elections in 1988 and 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, which looks at Spanish surnames in analyzing voter data.

The key this time, Martinez said, will not only be registration but also successfully converting voter registration projects to get-out-the-vote campaigns after Oct. 5, when registration for the November election closes.

With approximately 1.2 million Latinos already on the voter rolls, 300,000 new registered voters will bring the total to 1.5 million, Martinez said. If two-thirds of them vote in November, he said, the 1-million voter goal will be reached. Latinos thus would represent about 9% of those voting in the state, a total large enough to provide a swing vote in a close statewide or presidential election.

At the “Latino Voter ‘92” conference last month in Burbank, speakers including Hernandez, Rep. Esteban Torres (D-La Puente), LULAC state director Zeke Hernandez and U.S. Treasurer Catalina Villalpando, a Republican, exhorted participants to get the word out that, without a significant voter bloc at the polls, Latinos cannot hope to increase their political influence.

Martinez said Latinos’ votes have to “hurt or help someone politically in order to get the message across” to politicians.

Martinez said groups already have several voter registration campaigns under way in San Diego, Oakland, central Los Angeles and elsewhere. One is also being kicked off from the San Gabriel Valley south to Norwalk, a region Martinez called the “greatest concentration of unregistered, eligible, non-voting Latinos in the country.”

About 60 voter campaigns are also planned this summer for smaller communities throughout the state.

In past statewide elections, Latino voter registration drives have fallen short of their goals. Andrew Hernandez, president of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, acknowledged that some past drives have run short of money, hampering registration efforts.

Funding must still be secured to carry out the entire campaign this year, according to its organizers.

The success of Latino candidates in recent municipal elections from Baldwin Park to Bell Gardens is expected to provide incentives to further Latino political mobilization campaigns, political officials said.

In addition, the retirement of Rep. Edward Roybal (D-Los Angeles) at the end of this year is changing the Latino political landscape in Southern California. It has opened up the way for a highly competitive 17-person race in the 30th Congressional District to succeed him, a factor that is also expected to increase voter interest and turnout in that district.

Two high-profile Latino candidates running in the 30th District are Assemblyman Xavier Becerra (D-Monterey Park) and Leticia Quezada, a member of the Los Angeles Unified school board. Campaigning is expected to intensify in May in advance of the June 2 primary. Both are Democrats.

The winner of the 30th District is expected to join two Latino members of Congress from Southern California. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park) and Torres. Assemblywoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), Roybal’s daughter, is favored to win a fourth seat in Congress.

Meanwhile, with Becerra and Roybal-Allard moving up to congressional races, the way is open for other Latinos to succeed them in the Assembly.

How to Register

U.S. citizens 18 years or older who want to go to the polls for the June 2 California primary elections and the Nov. 3 general election must be registered to vote. Those who have not registered already at their current home address can obtain a mail-in form at most county or city buildings, post offices, libraries and banks. Voters must be registered by May 4 for the June primary and Oct. 5 for the Nov. 3 elections. For registration information, call (213) 721-1100.

Latino Voters in California

Community organizations are seeking to get 1 million Latinos to vote in November’s general election in California. In 1990, 844,000 Latinos went to the polls. There are 4,739,000 Latino adults (age 18 or older) in California. Here is a breakdown of their registration and voting record:

Latino adults who are U.S. citizens: 2,301,000 (48%)

Registered to vote: 1,218,000 (25.7%)

Actual voters in 1990: 844,000 (17.8%)

Did not vote: 374,000 (7.9%) Source: U.S. Census Bureau and NALEO