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This November 7, let's get out the vote!
With the 2006 voter registration deadlines quickly approaching, groups are using innovative new techniques to reach young Latino voters. Text-messaging through Mobile Voter and online registration on Facebook are some of the newest voter registration methods.
Political organizers are trying to transform the political activism demonstrated by Hispanics through the immigration marches into long-lasting political capital at the voting booth. From Phoenix to Nashville to Detroit, Latino groups are holding events to register voters, teaching new Americans about the democratic process, and helping immigrants become U.S. citizens. According to Pew Hispanic Center, 17 million Latinos are eligible voters this election. That is an increase of well more than 7% from 2004.
Hispanics make up approximately 14% of the U.S. population, but accounted for only 6% of voters in 2004, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. About 34% of Hispanics are under 18. An integral part of the 2006 registration drive is targeting more than 140,000 registered American Latino voters who have moved but not updated their voter status.
"It's not just a question of who you can register now, it's who are you influencing for the 2008 elections as well," said Jose Antonio Tijerino, President of the Hispanic Heritage Awards Foundation. "They can change the political landscape."
The use of text-messaging is most prevalent among youth and Hispanic cell phone users. About 65% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 use text-messaging; 54% of Hispanics use the technology.
Text-messaging worked so well in organizing young Hispanics to immigration protests this spring that political activists are applying the technology to voter registration. Through text-messaging, musicians at a concert, for example, can ask their fans to use their cell phones to register to vote. Those fans then receive an immediate response with instructions on how to get a voter registration form either online or with a pre-filled registration form in the mail.
They also can forward that message to their friends. Mobile Voter could then track whether they actually registered to vote, remind them if they did not, and send another reminder on Election Day.
Voto Latino, co-founded by actor Rosario Dawson, is using text-messaging, online social networks, and celebrity power to register Latinos under 30. “Young Latinos are the fastest growing voting bloc in America; every month, 50,000 Latinos turn 18 years old, nearly 90% of whom are eligible to vote,” said Maria Teresa Petersen, Director of Voto Latino. “By using TxtVoter, we’re putting democracy at the fingertips of the young Latino electorate.” TxtVoter, a service created by Mobile Voter, allows people to request a voter registration form via text message, an increasingly popular form of communication among 18- to 30-year-olds, particularly young Latinos.
Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan political organization for young people, recently announced that voters can now register to vote online through Facebook, the Internet's leading social network.
Rock the Vote's online registration expertise extends Facebook's Election 2006 network, which was launched last month to increase the political voice of Facebook users. The "We Will Rock the Vote" page gives Facebook users a way to easily become part of the election process whether they are registering to vote for the first time or changing their address because they have moved. Young people can also encourage their friends to fill out a voter registration form through the Rock the Vote page on Facebook.
The Rock the Vote registration program on Facebook is part of a nationwide, nonpartisan effort by 14 partner organizations to register 350,000 young voters in 2006, coordinated by Young Voter Strategies, a nonpartisan project at the George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Are you registered? REGISTER TO VOTE NOW at: http://www.nclr.org/section//november7/
