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Esta página no está disponible en español. Hispanic Population, Voter Apathy On The Rise…Puerto Rican Fest A Good Time To Talk Votes
Hispanic Population, Voter Apathy On The Rise Jaime Garzon July 30, 2004 As local officials grapple with the issue of Hispanic voting, an initiative to expand the nation's largest nonpartisan Hispanic voter registration campaign to include Westchester is being led by the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. Based in Washington, D.C., the agency functions as an office of the government of Puerto Rico in the United States. With 12 regional offices nationwide, the agency is "a link between the U.S. and Puerto Rico" and encourages Hispanics to support policies that are important to them, agency spokeswoman Celeste Diaz Ferraro said. As the Hispanic population in the United States continues to rise, Ferraro said, "we are connecting with the voters on a grass-roots level and educating them about the process." According to the 2000 Census, the Puerto Rican population nationwide is 3.4 million, a 28.5 percent increase since 1990. Hispanics comprise more than one quarter of the population in Yonkers, about 17.5 percent of the Village of Mamaroneck and nearly 16 percent of the county. Also, Puerto Ricans count for 36 percent of the Hispanic population in Yonkers, Ferraro said. Even though there is a large Hispanic presence in Westchester, Ferraro said, there is a great deal of cyclical migration in the lives of Puerto Ricans. She said some come to the states in search of greater opportunities, but they never plan to stay so they never internalize the U.S. voting system. Village of Mamaroneck Trustee Joe Angilletta said local Hispanics will assimilate into the system when they decide they want to stay here permanently. However, he said, first-generation immigrant families come to America for "a better life through working," not to learn the electoral system. Immigrants' children who are born here take a greater interest in Democracy than their parents who came here interested in "labor and providing for their families," Angilletta said. "There are many psychological and physical barriers that keep Puerto Ricans from voting," said Ferraro, who said some of those barriers have to do with language fluency, discrimination and the complexity of the voting process. She said many Hispanics feel voting doesn't make an impact on their daily lives. Voter registration and participation rates on the island are 95 percent and 86 percent, respectively, higher than any state in the nation. But when Puerto Ricans move to the United States, both registration and participation rates drop to about 40 percent, Ferraro said. Ferraro said the PRFAA is working hard to keep the "democratic traditions of Puerto Ricans" in place. When Puerto Ricans vote, she said, local governments are more responsive to their needs. She said that's why the PRFAA is educating Hispanics about the American political system. Mari Carmen Aponte, executive director of the PRFAA, announced the next phase of the Hispanic voter education, registration and mobilization campaign at a voter registration rally held July 15 at City Hall in Yonkers. "This is about empowering Puerto Rican communities and encouraging them to create more opportunities for Puerto Ricans in the United States and in Puerto Rico," Ferraro said. "I am proud to announce that our nonpartisan voter registration effort has registered 250,000 new voters nationwide including over 100,000 right here in New York state," Aponte said in a written statement released by the group. "We are on target to register 300,000 voters by the November 2004 elections and by registering to vote, you are on target to make a difference in the upcoming elections." Puerto Rico Gov. Sila Calderón launched the effort called "¡Que Nada Nos Detenga!" ("Let Nothing Stop Us!") in July 2002 to empower Puerto Ricans and Hispanics across the nation by encouraging them to become civically engaged in their own communities. The initiative was designed to target the 642,000 unregistered Puerto Ricans living in the United States. Puerto Rican Fest A Good Time To Talk Votes Fulvio Cativo; Plain Dealer Reporter July 18, 2004 The Plain Dealer Maria Samalot often brags about frequenting all Hispanic hotspots in the region. "Wherever there's rice and beans, the Boriqua voter registration crew is there," Samalot said. "Any county, all over Ohio." Saturday's 36th annual Puerto Rican Parade and Latino Fest was no different. Samalot is the organizer for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration's voter registration drive in Ohio. Armed with clipboards, pens and all the necessary paperwork to register and educate any eligible citizen, the volunteers and registration officers asked anyone within earshot -- sometimes speaking over loud festival music -- to make sure they were registered to vote. The group's campaign, titled "Que Nada Nos Detenga!" ("Let Nothing Stop Us!"), is a nonpartisan drive to register 300,000 Puerto Ricans in the mainland before the November elections. For the festival, their goal was to register about 300 voters, Samalot said. Despite a cloudy and rainy Saturday, they were well on their way to surpassing that mark. "We started this campaign three years ago before any other voter registration organization came to Cleveland . . . to try to educate the community in their language, about why it's important to vote and why they need to register to vote," Samalot said. Cleveland has the largest Puerto Rican community in Ohio, with about 70,000 people. Their status as U.S. citizens gives them the right to vote and, in some states, they make up from 2 to 5 percent of the electorate. While registering new voters alone only swells the electorate, Samalot said, a big part of the registration drive is about follow through. The group makes phone calls, mailings and even goes door to door to remind newly registered voters they can make a difference on election day. For the sort of effect all Hispanics can make in November, one need only look at the communication efforts waged by elected officials, Samalot said. "We have politicians speaking Spanish," she said. "That says it all." Nelly Quiones, one of the group's voter registration officers, helped several people register Saturday. While not everyone who filled out the paperwork was Hispanic, she said the growing Latin population needs to vote to increase its influence in government. "We're here and we're here to stay," she said. "We're not going anywhere." According to Census estimates released in mid-June, the nation's Hispanic and Asian populations are growing faster than the general population. "The population of Hispanics [who may be of any race] reached 39.9 million on July 1, 2003, accounting for about one-half of the 9.4 million residents added to the nation's population since Census 2000," the report said. "Its growth rate of 13 percent over the 39- month period was almost four times that of the total population (3.3 percent)." Cristina Marion, 19, from Cleveland's West Side, said she has not seen her sisters vote and wanted to leave a mark in the upcoming elections. "I've always wanted to," she said. "I think when you're 18, you should do it." After filling out the required paperwork, Marion encouraged others to register to vote. "It only takes one minute." Hispanic Population, Voter Apathy On The Rise Jaime Garzon July 30, 2004 As local officials grapple with the issue of Hispanic voting, an initiative to expand the nation's largest nonpartisan Hispanic voter registration campaign to include Westchester is being led by the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration. Based in Washington, D.C., the agency functions as an office of the government of Puerto Rico in the United States. With 12 regional offices nationwide, the agency is "a link between the U.S. and Puerto Rico" and encourages Hispanics to support policies that are important to them, agency spokeswoman Celeste Diaz Ferraro said. As the Hispanic population in the United States continues to rise, Ferraro said, "we are connecting with the voters on a grass-roots level and educating them about the process." According to the 2000 Census, the Puerto Rican population nationwide is 3.4 million, a 28.5 percent increase since 1990. Hispanics comprise more than one quarter of the population in Yonkers, about 17.5 percent of the Village of Mamaroneck and nearly 16 percent of the county. Also, Puerto Ricans count for 36 percent of the Hispanic population in Yonkers, Ferraro said. Even though there is a large Hispanic presence in Westchester, Ferraro said, there is a great deal of cyclical migration in the lives of Puerto Ricans. She said some come to the states in search of greater opportunities, but they never plan to stay so they never internalize the U.S. voting system. Village of Mamaroneck Trustee Joe Angilletta said local Hispanics will assimilate into the system when they decide they want to stay here permanently. However, he said, first-generation immigrant families come to America for "a better life through working," not to learn the electoral system. Immigrants' children who are born here take a greater interest in Democracy than their parents who came here interested in "labor and providing for their families," Angilletta said. "There are many psychological and physical barriers that keep Puerto Ricans from voting," said Ferraro, who said some of those barriers have to do with language fluency, discrimination and the complexity of the voting process. She said many Hispanics feel voting doesn't make an impact on their daily lives. Voter registration and participation rates on the island are 95 percent and 86 percent, respectively, higher than any state in the nation. But when Puerto Ricans move to the United States, both registration and participation rates drop to about 40 percent, Ferraro said. Ferraro said the PRFAA is working hard to keep the "democratic traditions of Puerto Ricans" in place. When Puerto Ricans vote, she said, local governments are more responsive to their needs. She said that's why the PRFAA is educating Hispanics about the American political system. Mari Carmen Aponte, executive director of the PRFAA, announced the next phase of the Hispanic voter education, registration and mobilization campaign at a voter registration rally held July 15 at City Hall in Yonkers. "This is about empowering Puerto Rican communities and encouraging them to create more opportunities for Puerto Ricans in the United States and in Puerto Rico," Ferraro said. "I am proud to announce that our nonpartisan voter registration effort has registered 250,000 new voters nationwide including over 100,000 right here in New York state," Aponte said in a written statement released by the group. "We are on target to register 300,000 voters by the November 2004 elections and by registering to vote, you are on target to make a difference in the upcoming elections." Puerto Rico Gov. Sila Calderón launched the effort called "¡Que Nada Nos Detenga!" ("Let Nothing Stop Us!") in July 2002 to empower Puerto Ricans and Hispanics across the nation by encouraging them to become civically engaged in their own communities. The initiative was designed to target the 642,000 unregistered Puerto Ricans living in the United States.
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