At the early voting centers in the Washington Metropolitan Area, Latino workers facilitate the voting process for citizens. The Voice of America spoke with some to learn about their experience.
Honduran Karla García arrived in the United States when she was 10 years old. Today he works at one of the voting precincts of the District of Columbia Board of Elections, during a busy early voting week ahead of the general elections on November 5.
In conversation with the Voice of America He says that he “takes great satisfaction in being able to help people” understand the voting system, especially when it comes to newly naturalized citizens who have never voted and therefore “don't know how the system works.”
Within the electoral precinct in a city as diverse as the capital Washington, translation services are available, but the system only has two languages enabled: English and Spanish to be able to choose the ballot, both paper and electronic.
Karla assures that during the day a good part of the work is helping people of Hispanic origin “who feel intimidated with the voting system (…) also in a center like this we have an interpreter service with people who speak Spanish to be able to help the Latinos and that they feel more comfortable” with the process, he points out.
Carmen Franco, a volunteer who also works at the voting center of the Columbia Heights Community Center, considered the Latin neighborhood of Washington, tells the VOA who enlisted as a volunteer and received training to support these “very momentous” elections.
He assures that it has been worth it to see a “quite busy” vote from the time the center opens at 8:30 in the morning, until the polls close at 7:00 pm, with a constant influx throughout the day. .
Carmen assures that the most common questions from those who come to consult her for assistance in Spanish are about the candidates on the ballot; especially the shortlists for local government, because unlike the presidential formulas of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, which have a lot of media exposure, the local candidates are less known.
The District of Columbia vote for presidentbut not for delegates of the House of Representatives or the Senate, as they do not have the right to vote in the Federal Congress. The US capital is not part of the group of 50 US states.
The portion of the electoral cake
In addition to the next occupant of the White House, in the general elections on November 5 in the United States, the 435 delegates of the House of Representatives and a third of the Federal Senate will also be elected, along with governors and other local authorities throughout the country.
In this context, the Latino vote has been considered crucial for some states and districts with strong representation of this minority, which according to the Population Census exceeds 50 million throughout the country.
Chase Harrison and Khalea Robertson analysts at the Council of the Americas, AS/COA, analysis center in Washington, consider in an analysis that some 36 million Latinos could go to the polls in this election.
“Which represents 15% of eligible voters. A diverse demographic with the second-fastest growth rate among voting blocs, Latinos may prove crucial in deciding presidential and congressional races in several states,” according to analysts.
Experts keep their eyes on this group in key states such as California, Florida, Texas, as well in undecided states in this electoral process like Arizona and Nevada.
While early voting is taking place, officials like Karla García and volunteers like Carmen Franco appeal to the Latino community authorized to vote to take advantage of the opportunity to exercise their right in the days before the crucial election Tuesday.