With more than 30 fellow immigrants lined up to vote, Bruno and Maria Lopez took turns and followed all the steps – they checked in with polling monitors, took a ballot, filled it out.
When they were done, they even got a pair of “I voted” stickers.
It was all a rehearsal for the real thing – once they become citizens.
A man practices filling out a voters ballot during a workshop for 1st time voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
A pamphlet encourage people to vote is written in Spanish during a workshop for 1st time Latino voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
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Patriotic balloons decorated the gym at Perris High School as students attending a rally are encouraged to become register voters and to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Students from Perris High School attend a rally encouraging them to register to vote and to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Luz Gallegos, TODEC community programs director, talks in Spanish about the importance of voting during a workshop for 1st time voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
TODEC employees conduct a mock polling place scenario during a workshop for 1st time voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Miles Patricola, 25, center, of NextGen America entices CSUF students with free outside The Pizza Press in Fullerton on Wednesday, Sep. 5, 2018. In exchange the students fill out cards indicating what issues will persuade them to vote in 2018. Those that were not registered to vote would be provided with voter registration forms. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Judith Castaneda, right, registers to vote at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson on Tuesday, September. 25, 2018. Schools across the country participated in National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, Sept. 25. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)
Jessica Villa registers to vote at CSULB in Long Beach on Tuesday, September. 25, 2018. Schools across the country participated in National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, Sept. 25. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)
Maxwell Williams, 17, runs with his voter registration form he completed first during a race to see who could fill out the form the fastest at a rally encouraging students to register to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Tia Watson, right, talking to students at Cal State Dominguez Hills, encouraging them to register to vote in Carson on Tuesday, September. 25, 2018. Schools across the country participated in National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, Sept. 25. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)
Latinos attend a workshop for first-time voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Maria Lopez, of Perris, practices filling out a voters ballot during a workshop for 1st time voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
A hashtag that reads “#GETLOUD” hangs on the door at the TODEC Legal Center as a group finish attending a workshop for 1st time voters in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Remigio Ruiz Jr., a case worker for TODEC explains how to become a registered voter during a workshop for 1st time voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Latinos attend a workshop for 1st time voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
A man enters the TODEC Legal Center in Perris where a workshop was held for 1st time voters on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Luz Gallegos, TODEC community programs director, speaks in Spanish about the importance of voting during a workshop for first time voters and future voters at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris on Friday, September 21, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Jayleen Cardenas, 16, and junior at Perris High School, fills out an application to become a registered voter after attending a rally encouraging students to register to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Luz Gallegos, Community Program Director for TODEC, leads a rally encouraging students at Perris High School to register to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Mission College ASO Vice President Victoria Pfau hangs up Vote tees which students can win if they register to vote. A variety of student organizations throughout the Los Angeles Community College District held student voter registration drives to mark National Voter Registration Day Tuesday, September 25, 2018. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A rally was held at Perris High School encouraging students to register to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
A pair of students at Perris High School fill out applications to become registered voters after attending a rally encouraging students to register to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Representatives from TODEC set up a table to help students from Perris High School, become registered voters after a rally encouraging students to register to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Jessica Arrellanes, 17, and senior at Perris High School, fills out an application to become a registered voter after attending a rally encouraging students to register to vote in Perris on Monday, September 17, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
Tracy DuMouchelle, left, fills out a voter registration form, provided by AltaMed intern Cynthia Zepeda, while DuMouchelle waits for her son to have his teeth cleaned at AltaMed Health Services in Anaheim on Wednesday, September 26, 2018. “Healthcare organizations can no longer sit on the sidelines and ignore the politicization of vital health care programs,” Castulo de la Rocha, president and CEO of AltaMed, said in a news release. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cynthia Zepeda, AltaMed project intern, left, chats with Magdalena Barriga, who is with her friends 1-year-old son, at AltaMed Health Services in Anaheim on Wednesday, September 26, 2018. Zepeda made her rounds through the Health Services offices trying to get unregistered voters to register as part of the non-partisan voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Vote book markers being given out at the voter registration table at Mission College. A variety of student organizations throughout the Los Angeles Community College District held student voter registration drives to mark National Voter Registration Day Tuesday, September 25, 2018. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Hassan Walukonde, ASO member at Mission College talks about the voting system here in the US vs Uganda where he came from. A variety of student organizations throughout the Los Angeles Community College District held student voter registration drives to mark National Voter Registration Day Tuesday, September 25, 2018. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Receptionist Darlene Hampton and Latasha Reese, assistant city clerk, are on hand with voter information at Pasadena City Halls city clerk office on National Voter Registration Day, Tuesday, September 25, 2018. The last day to register is October 22 for the November 6 statewide general election. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)
Long Beach State President Jane Close Conoley, Secretary of State Alex Padilla and student leaders will hosted a small town-hall style forum in Long Beach on Friday, September. 14, 2018, focused on the importance of student voter participation in the Nov. 6 election. The school is also discussing how to instill a culture of civic engagement through 2030. (Photo by Brittany MurrayPress-Telegram/SCNG)
First time voter Alexander Ocegueda, 18, puts his ballot in the ballot box during the Show Up To Vote Early Voting Festival at the LA County Registrars Office in Norwalk, Calif. on Monday June 4,2018. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)
The Orange County Registrar of Voters was registering voters and volunteer poll workers at Santa Ana College in Santa Ana on Monday, May 14, 2018. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ellie, in full voting attire brought a smile to morning voters at El Dorado Park in Long Beach on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press Telegram/SCNG)
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The couple, long time green card holders and legal residents, had just finished attending a class on the American voting process. In that class, held in mid-September, they got step-by-step instructions on how to fill out a voter registration form and how to vote. And the class on voting was preceded by another class aimed at helping them pass their citizenship exams.
The classes – offered in Spanish by the immigrant rights group TODEC Legal Center – are part of a multi-prong civic engagement program aimed at helping turn legal permanent residents throughout Southern California into American citizens, registering those who are citizens to vote, and then gently nagging them to the polls on Election Day.
Plus, this election may include an extra incentive for many in the Latino community: President Donald Trump.
“Thats an activator,” Luz Gallegos, TODEC community programs director, said of Trumps rhetoric and his administrations policies that have affected the Hispanic community.
“Our undocumented community is at risk. Our legal permanent residents are at risk. Our community is being criminalized,” Gallegos said.
“For us, its personal,” she added.
“We need to get people out to vote. Voting is a power we have.”
But first, eligible voters need to know whats up.
Trump factor[hhmc]
“When is the next election?” Gallegos enthusiastically asked the group that filled a room in their downtown Perris building on Sept. 21.
Two people guessed. Both were wrong.
“Thats part of the challenge,” Gallegos said afterwards.
“People need to become educated, learn about the issues and the candidates, and not just follow whatever any one party or organization tells them. They need to do their own research and choose what and whos best for them.”
Long-time immigrant rights advocates like Gallegos say they have seen fear and concern, not just from people living in the country illegally but legal residents who are not citizens.
People like Alicia Rodriguez, who has been a legal resident for more than 20 years and is now applying for citizenship “in case laws change.”
“I am worried,” said Rodriguez, after attending citizenship and voting workshops at the TODEC office in Perris. “I want to stay here with my children. My life is here.”
Bruno Lopez, 69, who was at the workshops with his wife, said hes not fearful that his legal status of decades could change. But, he said, his children want him to become a citizen, and hes decided he agrees, “so I can vote.”
Mid-term elections cant compare to a sexy presidential election, and its no secret that midterms draw fewer voters.
But theres a lot at stake in the Nov. 6 election, including which political party will take control of the U.S. House and Senate. In California alone, there are at least seven key GOP-held districts Democrats hope to tip their way and Republicans hope they can hold on to.
Latinos could play a key role, experts say – if they vote.
One out of every four California voters is Hispanic. In Southern California, the percentage dips lower only in Orange County, where Latinos account for about one in five voters. But Latinos make up 34 percent of the registered voters in Los Angeles County, 32.5 percent in Riverside County and 37.6 percent in San Bernardino County.
RELATED STORY: Health provider AltaMed takes on active, innovative role to get voters to the polls
And as the midterm approaches, enthusiasm among Latino voters appears high.
About half of registered voters say they are more enthusiastic about voting this year than in previous congressional elections, the highest level since 2006, according to the Pew Research Center. Those who plan to pull the lever for the Democrat in their district are a little more enthusiastic: 55 percent compared to 50 percent of registered Latino voters who plan to back Republican candidates, Pew reported, in June, after interviewing 2002 adults.
Meanwhile, Pew found that about two-thirds of Americans, or 65 percent, view the outcome of this years congressional elections as very important to the country. Again, Democrats were more inclined than Republicans to see it that way; 70 percent vs. 62 percent.
The reason, advocates say, is President Trump.
“This whole campaign started because we had Latino community members come and say they were tired of being attacked by this administration,” said Karina Martinez, a spokeswoman for a pro-immigrant group called Mi Familia Vota (My Family Votes).
“They are tired of being in this atmosphere, and they wanted to get together to change it. And they knew that to change it, they had to get people to vote,” said Martinez, whose national civic engagement group works in California and five other states.
“People were saying we werent inspired to vote before…But, now, weve seen the things hes done,” she said referring to Trump and ticking off a list of community complaints, from the treatment of Puerto Rico after last years hurricane to the termination of the DACA program to the separation of immigrant children from their parents at the border.
Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development, said that “greater turnout will happen because of the current political climate, which is anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-handicap, anti-everybody. The best way to react is in the voting booth.”
But Latinos arent the only group that might feel extra motivated to vote.
“The Trump factor could increase Latino voters, but its going to increase everyone elses turnout as well, including white Republicans,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data Inc.
The difference, if there is one, could be a large subset of the Latino voting block – young people.
“When youre targeting Latinos, youre targeting millennials,” Mitchell said.
Latino Millenials[hhmc]
A lot of the get-out-the-vote drives focus on millennials because they make up 44 percent of the Latino eligible voters.
NextGen California, for example, is spending $3.5 million to register and organize young voters across the state.
Mi Famila Vota has launched a digital voter campaign that includes outreach messaging on Instagram, Facebook and Spotify, as well as text services and other platforms. The campaign is called USA Tu Poder (Use Your Power), and the organization is using digital platforms because young Latinos are tapping technology at a higher rate, Martinez said.
“Studies show that as long as you are exposed to messages, you are more likely to register and vote,” Martinez said. “It sounds ridiculous, but a lot of people are just not exposed to this information.”
It doesnt sound ridiculous to Jennie Carreon, associate vice president of civic engagement for AltaMed Health Services, which has employees reaching out to low-propensity voters near its 52 clinics in Los Angeles and Orange County.
“We spoke to 252,000 people in the last three weeks and 92 percent of them have said, I didnt even know there is an election,” Carreon said.
Young Latinos might represent a large get for people hoping to mobilize the broader Latino vote – almost 39 percent of Latino voters in California are between 18 to 34 years old. But youth comes with some disadvantages.
“Theyre a low turnout population,” said Political Datas Mitchell of young voters.
“Because theyre younger, they move a lot. The average American age 18 to 28 moves four to five times in a 10 year period. In a 10 year period, we have four to five elections. So, theyre moving once per election. And for Latinos, the number increases by about 30 percent,” Mitchell said.
Prof. Matt Barreto is faculty director of UCLAs Latino Policy & Politics Initiative, which analyzed the Latino vote in Los Angeles and Orange counties after the last June election. Heres what they found: the Latino vote increased more than any other demographic in Los Angeles County, a growth of about 75 percent when compared to the 2014 election.
In Orange County, the report stated, majority-Latino precincts saw big gains, (big gains, percentage-wise; the number of ballots cast were only in the hundreds.) Those include precincts in the hotly contested CA-39 race, where Democrat Gil Cisneros and Republican Young Kim are vying for the seat that will be vacated by outgoing Congressman Ed Royce.
The Latino vote “was critical in pushing Cisneros through to the top,” according to the report.
Meanwhile, California is seeing an uptick in voter registration thanks to the Department of Motor Vehicles new “Motor Voter” program that automatically registers people to vote when they get or renew a license unless they opt out. In the first two and a half months of the California Motor Voter program, the DMV completed almost 793,000 transactions, including more than 259,000 new voter registrations, the Secretary of State office reported in July. (Some 23,000 people, however, were registered in error, the DMV acknowledged earlier this month.)
Putting it altogether, people like Gallegos, the activist with TODEC, believe it could make a difference come Nov. 6. As long as voters get out to vote.
At the end of her recent workshop, Gallegos asked again more than 30 legal permanent residents, new citizens and future citizens for the date of the next election.
An hour earlier, the same group couldnt answer this question.
This time, they shouted in unison: “November 6.”
RELATED STORIES[hhmc]
Health provider AltaMed takes on active, innovative role to get voters to the polls
Legal non-citizen immigrants will help non-English speaking voters on Election Day
Will Democrats improve on primarys blue ripple with stronger turnout in November election?
In House battle for CA 39, the immigrant vote and Trumps hard-line policies loom large
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