Vote Drive Seeks More Latinos

Three years ago, the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project launched an ambitious campaign to add 30,000 Latino voters to the rolls in the San Fernando Valley.

They were able to register about 10,000 Latinos by the time the project ran out of money and closed its Reseda office.

But now the Southwest group is making another run at Latinos in the Valley, this time planning to open five offices with the goal of registering 6,000 to 10,000 voters.

Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Texas-based organization, said the Valley remains a key focus of the group’s campaign in California.

“It has a big concentration of unregistered Latinos,” he said. “Historically, the Eastside has gotten a lot of attention in voter registration. But we are giving more attention now to the Valley.”

The number of Latinos registered to vote in the Valley increased during the last drive from 52,000 to about 62,000. But the number of unregistered Latinos has also increased, growing from 70,000 in 1997 to about 80,000 now, said Ruben Villarreal, who headed the Valley project in 1997 and 1998. They make up a large pool of untapped political might, say local leaders.

Gonzalez said, “It’s not all about electing Latinos. By registering more, we are making sure that their views are listened to.”

There is no question that past voter registration drives have helped elect more Latinos. In recent years, the Valley has elected its first Latinos to the Los Angeles City Council, the state Assembly and the state Senate.

“America’s democracy is tied to voter responsibility, so any group that doesn’t vote, to the extent they don’t vote, they diminish their ability to affect the democratic process,” said state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), who won his seat by 29 votes.

Project volunteers plan to work at Valley churches, schools and supermarkets, starting in July. They will concentrate efforts in San Fernando and Pacoima, and Canoga Park and North Hollywood, where there is a growing Central American population.

For young Latinos the biggest obstacle to registration is apathy, Villarreal said. Many do not believe their votes will count. For older Latinos the issue is learning how to register, he said.

Alarcon said there is a steady stream of newly naturalized citizens who need to be registered. “I also think the Latino community is a transitional community, so when people move, they need to be re-registered,” he added.

Project officials say they believe the presidential election in November will spark more interest among Latinos. The campaigns of Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush are aggressively courting the Latino vote this year.

Although the vast majority of Latino voters are Democrats, the rise of more and more Latinos into the middle class means an increasing number have become Republicans.

Exit polling by The Times during this month’s presidential primary found that just 7% of Latino voters turned out to cast ballots statewide, even though Latinos represent about 30% of the state’s population. The turnout was down from the 12% who went to the polls during the 1998 primary.

Because it is nonpartisan, the Southwest voter project is concerned only that more Latinos cast ballots, regardless of party.

In 1992, 28% of registered voters in the Valley’s 39th Assembly District had Spanish surnames. In 1998, after intensive registration efforts, 44% of the voters were Latino, including Sylmar’s Tony Cardenas, the first Latino elected to the seat.

Latino voter registration in the 7th Council District, which covers the Pacoima area, went from 31% in 1991 to 48% today.