Getting Young Latinos to Vote: Obama and Clinton Now in Texas

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Dick Price
Northeast Democratic Club of Los Angeles

As the Democratic Party’s presidential primary season moves into the homestretch with Senators Clinton and Obama vying to match each other stride for stride, two voter groups — Latinos and the young — are playing increasingly central roles. The Latino vote in California broke heavily for Hillary Clinton, helping her win resounding victories there, while support among young voters is widely credited with fueling the enthusiasm propelling Barack Obama’s campaign.

Recently, these two voting blocs came together in ways that could alter the political landscape for both parties. In a just-concluded pilot project conducted by the venerable Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, SVREP registered 1,700 young voters at nine Los Angeles community colleges, adding a nifty twist designed to increase actual voter turnout by having nearly two thirds of these newcomers register as permanent absentee voters.

[Pictured is SVREP's Denise Lopez, left, registering an LA City College Student]

“The traditional complaint about registering young voters is that many of them don’t actually turn out to vote,” says Unai Montes-Irueste, director of SVREP’s National Voter Registration & Education Project. “You might see lots of enthusiasm and energy in the campaign, but then the voting totals are often disappointing.”

“With people under 30, it’s likely that they’re going to move from one election to the next, meaning they would have to reregister each time they moved,” he says. “But if they register as permanent absentees and use the address of an older relative as we’re recommending — their parents, say, or an aunt — they’ll get their ballot two weeks before the election, they’ll be bombarded with messages from the candidates, and they’ll likely vote.” ****