Leaders from ASIA Inc., HOLA Ohio, NAACP Cleveland the Urban League of Greater Cleveland are calling for unity and action from diverse voters before election day. A press release from the organizations notes that more than 2.5 million Hispanic voters have already cast a ballot in early voting. That compares favorably to the 2014 midterms, when only 1.1 million Hispanic voters had cast votes by this point. This is the largest voter increase for any demographic group.
Veronica Dahlberg, of HOLA Ohio, said that those national numbers are reflective of the enthusiasm she’s seen on the ground in Ohio. In a voter registration effort, which attempted to register 1,001 new voters in Ohio and involved 100 HOLA volunteers, Dahlberg said Latinos were “motivated more than ever to vote in this election.”
Elaine TSO, Interim CEO of Asian Services in Action (ASIA Inc.), reminded non-English-speaking voters that they shouldn’t let language be a barrier to voting. They are allowed to bring bilingual family members to assist them at the polls, and bilingual volunteers will be available at multiple polling places.
Marsha Mockabee, President and CEO of the Urban League, echoed her colleagues’ calls for unity and said she appreciated that organizations representing diverse communities were working together to stress the importance of voting this year.
Unspoken in these leaders appeals for voter participation is the fact that the rights of diverse communities are under siege.
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2018.
