Posted on 09/06/2010 8:44:59 AM PDT by SandRat
PHOENIX — Amid stacks of voter-registration pamphlets and reminder mailers, three pairs of volunteers hunch over tables in Mi Familia Vota’s Arizona headquarters, assembling voter-information packets and tallying registration numbers.
The nonpartisan activist group has already registered 14,000 Latinos since June for Arizona’s Permanent Early Voting List and expects to register about 11,000 more by October, according to state director Francisco Heredia.
Heredia said this will be the year Latinos, feeling the pressure of the recession and concerned about the effects of SB 1070, will flock to the polls and wield the influence of their numbers.
“SB 1070 is definitely a motivating factor,” Heredia said. “Latinos want to do something about this, and they want to do something this year.”
This is not the first year activists have touted the voting potential of Latinos, who make up an estimated 31 percent of Arizona’s population.
Political scientists and activists have differing views about whether this will be the year.
Bruce Merrill, a retired Arizona State University professor who directs the Cronkite/Eight Poll, said he’s skeptical of claims that SB 1070 will suddenly and drastically change Latino voting behavior.
Merrill, who has been observing Arizona elections since 1968, said Latinos have consistently failed to vote in large numbers. That stems in part from a lower overall level of education, he said.
If a July injunction on SB 1070 is lifted, the law would, among other provisions, make it a state crime to be in the country illegally.
Some Latinos see the law as an attack on a vulnerable population, according to James Garcia, a board member for the Arizona Latino Research Enterprise, a Latino-advocacy group.
But many are more concerned about keeping their jobs, he said.
“Latinos have been affected by the same things as everyone else: economic conditions, the recession,” Garcia said.
Key concerns for Latino voters, he said, include job creation and the state of the housing market, issues that affect them on a daily basis more than immigration.
“There’s a real fear of being unemployed,” said Alonzo Morado, state director of Democracia U.S.A., another Latino voter-registration group.
Based on responses during the group’s voter-registration efforts, “it’s really about the bread-and-butter issues,” Morado said.
After casting his vote in the primary, Phoenix resident Ruben Flores said fellow Latinos he’s spoken with are most concerned about economic pressures.
Regardless of turnout, Flores said he’s seen increased awareness among Latino voters.
“They’re asking more questions,” he said.
Phoenix attorney Sal Rivera has also seen growing interest among young Latinos through his work with the Arizona Latino Research Enterprise, of which he is chairman.
“A lot of children of immigrants saw that their parents couldn’t vote or participate in the process,” he said. “But now they want their turn.”
David Berman, a senior researcher at ASU’s Morrison Institute who specializes in campaigns and elections, said voter turnout will depend on how effectively Latino leaders engage voters.
“These are the kind of issues that can really affect behavior and attitudes, but the spark has to be mobilized,” Berman said. “It has to come from the community.”
Regardless of the turnout this year, Rebecca Rios, D-Apache Junction, said steps taken this year to mobilize Latino voters will pay dividends in the future.
“It’s not going to be a tidal wave, but 10 years from now, will what is happening today have had an impact? Absolutely,” said Rios, the Senate assistant minority leader. “I think it’s definitely laying some building blocks for large Hispanic turnout over time.”
Future anchor baby voting block?
“There’s a real fear of being unemployed,” said Alonzo Morado, state director of Democracia U.S.A., another Latino voter-registration group.”
Well, then, by all means, keep those borders open. Nothing will enhance you chances of finding a job faster than adding a couple million more people willing to work for less.
Corrected the tittle.
It could also boost legal Latino turnout as well. Most of the latino folks I work with are fans of SB1070.
United we stand, divided we fall. The battle between the various tribes and clans in America has begun.
“Activists say SB 1070 could boost illegal Latino vote turnout
Corrected the tittle.”
I think illegally voting should be made an act of espionage, and the person should be tried as such.
The reason why the “Hispanic wave” never happens in AZ is because (1) Most legal Latinos don’t approve of illegals; and (2) AZ’s Prop 200 introduced strict Voter ID requirements at the polls, keeping out all but the most fraud-intent illegals.
True that.
Add to which, few are more against illegal immigration than an illegal who is already here.
I don’t buy the notion SB1070 will lead to wholesale pro amnesty turnout.
The tide nationally is turning against and it has a huge demoralizing effect.
If we don’t support amnesty, birthright citizenship and open borders, we’ll lose the Latino vote. /s
Yes, that is what I was driving at. Legal immigrants(latino or otherwise)usually are against freeloading illegals bypassing the system after the legals put in years of hard work to get here legally not to mention the long drawn out process of becoming a citizen.
Cronkite News Service? Yahahaha..
It's easy to spend other peoples money.
Don't get caught up in that. My family is half Latino. How would you tell the difference between my moreno family members and the illegals?
My family is as American as anyone on this forum, even if they were born brown and speaking Spanish as the language if their birth.
This is a fight against socialist balkanization of American culture, a division of our "one people" back into many, and if they can set us to fight one another, they have won...
“I think illegally voting should be made an act of espionage”
I agree, voter fraud is revolting!
To wait will insure their states the same fate as Arizona and we are in dire straits. We have an increase in home invasions and huge spike in murders in Tucson which according to oldtimers is probably because the vermin who are involved in low level drug smuggling come up on visitor's visas to “hide” from the violence down there. But as usual, they cannot run and they cannot hide and their “creditors” follow them up here to collect.
Do not be fooled by anyone who says this illegal immigration problem is good for America or that it cannot be fixed. Do not elect anyone who is mushy on the issue.
And if we do support them, there might not be a vote.
You must have missed my sarcasm.
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