Media Blitz Aims to Increase Latino Voter Registration

In a scene that was itself a testimony to the potential of Latino political power in California, Latino leaders from throughout the state and beyond met Saturday to discuss the merits of an upcoming media-driven voter registration campaign.

The program, called “El Poder del Voto” (The Power of the Vote), is a guide to the voting process aimed at the Southland’s Latino population.

The two-pronged program will consist of a bilingual written guide, to be distributed in 775,000 copies of The Times on March 27 and 28, and a half-hour instructional television special on KMEX-TV Channel 34, March 28, at 11 a.m.

About 70 people discussed the importance of increasing Latino participation in the electoral process at an Echo Park restaurant.

“There is no more important effort for our community right now than the struggle for political representation,” said Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), speaker of the California Assembly.

Maria Echaveste, the senior Latina in the White House and an advisor to President Clinton, also underscored the importance of building the Latino electorate.

“It really comes down to two things in this political system,” Echaveste said, “money and votes--and we need both.”

Though reaction to the plan was generally positive, one expert warned that attempts through the media to get out the vote have had limited success.

“The use of media in stimulating Latino participation has a terrible track record,” said Antonio Gonzalez, head of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. “It may be, though, that the bilingual nature of this plan will change the conventional wisdom.”