As if the recession's obvious impact isn't enough, the U.S. Census has revealed another, more hidden effect: Hispanics, who are growing sharply in population, are vanishing from the electoral process.

Latino voter registration plunged from 11.6 million in 2008 to 10.9 million in 2010, the Chronicle's Joe Holley reported last week ("Hispanic voting gains are slipping," Page A1, April 2). Because losing such a large swath of voters weakens the whole electoral process, Democrats and Republicans both need to push to get Latinos on board this year.

The drop in registration is apparently unprecedented, voting analysts say.

And while a variety of factors may be to blame, the most likely is the recession and foreclosure epidemic. When people change residence, they must re-register to vote. Americans of Latino descent, especially hit by the downturn, seem to be giving up on voting in the turmoil of leaving or losing their homes.

But politics is a culprit too. Dispirited by President Obama and alarmed by the GOP challengers, many Latinos have told researchers they don't see the point of voting at all. As George P. Bush, cofounder of Hispanic Republicans of Texas, told the San Antonio Express News, "Both parties have failed to reach out to the community."

But there is one new electoral trend that could help. According to NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, Latina women wield extraordinary power in getting their family members to vote. So this year, the group is determined to enlist Latinas' help in boosting Latino participation overall.

NALEO arrived at this plan after quizzing focus groups of registered and non-registered Hispanic citizens in Houston. In several focus groups, when asked who planned to vote, not one participant raised his hand. When asked what could change their minds, the answer was simple. Their mothers and wives.

It's a huge change from just a generation ago, when Latina women often told voting activists they needed permission and guidance from their husbands in order to vote. Then and now, Hispanic women traditionally play a unifying emotional force in their families. What's new may be the alchemy between traditional Hispanic family values and America's gift of economic and gender empowerment. Hispanics' traditionally high birthrates, for example, are plunging in this country.

Meanwhile, in the past five years, Hispanic women have shown a 46 percent increase in business ownership, compared to a 20 percent increase of women business owners overall.

Interestingly, NALEO's voting outreach plan echoes an important current in the global fight against poverty. From microloans to payment for school attendance to health training, targeted investment in women has shown striking payoffs for entire communities.

By signing up Latina citizens to vote, and then urging them to push their families to participate, NALEO adds critical muscle to our democracy. Supporting that effort, formally or informally, is a powerful investment for all of us - Hispanic or not.