"Mi Familia Vota" Encouraging Latinos to Vote
As we saw in 2010, Latino voters across the country are playing a key role in this election.
A national campaign called Mi Familia Vota, which just started in August, is encouraging Latinos to hit the polls.
"I'm convinced that the Latino vote will be decisive in deciding who gets elected to be president," says Eliseo Medina, the Treasurer for Mi Familia Vota.
More than 50 million Latinos call the United States home. Historically though, most do not vote. Something this campaign hopes to change.
"We go and visit people in their homes to have one-on-one conversations about what it is they need to do in order to participate," says Medina.
Medina tells us the biggest hurdle for Latino voters is lack of information. That's why volunteers and employees try to keep them up to date on all the issues.
"To make sure that Latinos have the information they need in order to become full participants in the electoral process," says Medina.
Here in northern Nevada, the group has 14 volunteers and employees knocking on doors.
"They're very passionate about what they do because they have a purpose behind what they do," says Carla Castedo with Mi Familia Vota. "Everyone has a story about why this election is so important to them."
They may be small in numbers, but not in results. Since August, they've registered more than 1,800 people to vote in Washoe County.
"We also are doing a 'get out the vote campaign', so we're going to over 1,200 houses per week," says Castedo.
Medina says there are some people and politicians who think Latinos should not be allowed to vote, but in this country, he says, everyone should have the opportunity to participate.
"I think if anybody says that any one group should not be allowed to vote, they in fact do not understand what Democracy, and do not understand what the values of this country are," he says.
Written by Adam Rasmussen