Latino Turnout
By Brian Krueger, Jasmine Spearing-Bowen, Maria Esquinca and Mehmet Burak Ozcan
Early-voting numbers for the 2016 presidential election show a surge in Latino voters in Arizona and across the country that could be a deciding factor in determining the outcome.
This was the case at the Maryvale church of the Nazarene, where Latino voters were willing to wait for several hours early in the morning to ensure their vote was processed. They were driven by personal motivation and the assistance of get-out-the-vote organizations aimed at Latinos.
This was the case at the Maryvale church of the Nazarene, where Latino voters were willing to wait for several hours early in the morning to ensure their vote was processed. They were driven by personal motivation and the assistance of get-out-the-vote organizations aimed at Latinos.
In March, voters had been frustrated during the primaries by lines that lasted from three to six hours. Officials had promised to address the problem by the general election but during early voting on Thursday, there were more reports of long lines
“Every election is a lot differently, this one is especially unique, but the state officials don’t understand that things change and require a different response,” said Christian Ramos, 22, who had waited three hours in March and was bracing for another long wait today. |
Back in March, he had tried the Maryvale church of the Nazarene but it had been so packed he couldn’t get in the parking lot, so he drove and went to another location
More Hispanics this year were eligible to vote than ever before. This had led Arizona, where 31 percent of the population is Hispanic, to become a battleground state in this election.
Lydia Carmago, a woman in her 30s with three boys, was eligible to vote for the first time after getting her citizenship last year. Without the reminder phone calls of get-out-the-vote organizations, she would not have remembered to vote, she said.
She was motivated by the prospect of the first female president. She was also trying to motivate her father to vote, who was resting before his graveyard shift at Walmart and said he felt too sick to vote.
Even though 31 percent of the population is Hispanic, their influence has often not been felt because of low turnout. This year saw an unprecedented effort by local political organizations to educate Latinos on getting out to vote.
And the impact is being felt. Arizona has led the nation in the surge of Latino voters.
Anthony Villavla, who just turned 18, was smiling and proud to be voting for the first time to prevent Donald Trump from winning. Like Anthony, Alejandra Sykes, also 18, was driven by inner motivation to vote, but was also encouraged by conversations on social media.
“Everywhere you know, on Facebook and everywhere ,it’s telling you to start voting early and it’s been really easy, I just registered myself,” Alejandra said.
Not all the new voters were motivated by the same reasons. Raul Cervantes, 65, a bus driver and minister who didn’t vote in 2012, said his main motivation was gun and religious rights. “I’m a little more motivated than last time, the stakes are higher,” he said.
But the people who showed up had to be patient, with long lines lasted between 2 to 3 hours. Elderly and physically handicapped voters could be seen on nearby park benches taking a break from standing in line, and one man was hear cursing at employees inside.
Another man who showed up to vote was told they were not on the rolls and that their provisional ballot might not count, said Abril Gallarado, an independent poll monitor who had been at the polling place since 7:00 a.m.
“There are only about two people working and seven booths inside,” she said.
Many people waiting in line also had ballots that had already been filled out, which meant they could have gone straight inside, but no employees announced this.
These types of flaws in the voting process did not look to be deterring people at Maryvale church. Between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m., no one gave up and left.
By the end of Tuesday, it will be clear whether this was also true for the other 709,000 registered Latino voters in Arizona.
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