Group Works to Get More Latino Voters to Cast Their Ballots

As the Los Angeles mayoral runoff fast approaches, a Latino organization aims to improve on the strong showing by Latino voters in April’s city election by mobilizing 15,000 additional voters--new or young registrants or those who have never voted.

This is the third phase of the voter mobilization effort--dubbed Voces del Pueblo, or Voices of the People--started in March by the educational fund of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

The effort is focused on getting to the polls people who are being ignored by candidates more interested in spending their resources on likely voters, said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the L.A.-based nonpartisan organization.

“Consultants don’t say, ‘Who votes sometimes?’ ” said Vargas at a news conference Friday to announce the final phase of the effort. He lives in northeast Los Angeles in a predominantly Latino neighborhood where, he said, voter turnout is low. “I don’t get inundated by mailings.”

During the recent Los Angeles city election, Latinos accounted for 21% of the total voter turnout, a figure generally seen as encouraging.

And since the April primary, 6,898 more Latinos in Los Angeles have registered to vote. Still, Vargas said, thousands more could participate.

There are 29,635 Latinos in Los Angeles who are registered to vote but who have never voted, he said.

The young also have poor voting records, regardless of ethnicity. In Los Angeles, there are 17,400 Latinos between 18 and 24 registered to vote, and the association would like to see more of them going to the polls.

The group plans to contact up to 60,000 potential voters.

It will sponsor radio commercials, send out 100,000 mailings, operate a phone bank and deploy 200 volunteers to walk 200 precincts.

Next week, it will host a Spanish-language televised debate between the mayoral candidates, City Atty. James K. Hahn and former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, in which residents themselves will ask questions.

Back in March, the association and the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion conducted forums in six Latino-dominated city neighborhoods--Boyle Heights, Pico-Union, northeast San Fernando Valley, South Los Angeles, the Wilmington/Harbor City area and northeast Los Angeles--to identify the issues of concern to residents.

Among their stated concerns were education, housing, public safety and transportation.

Many saw secession from the city as a solution to their concerns, according to the association.

And many participating in the forums said that poor public services in their neighborhoods made them feel disenfranchised from the system and discouraged them from voting.