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National Latino Leaders Announce Florida Voter Turnout & Assistance Campaign for Presidential Election

MOVIMIENTO HISPANO PARTNERS PREVIEW TWO PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND PUBLICIZE A BILINGUAL VOTER ASSISTANCE HOTLINE

October 23, 2012

Contact: Paloma Zuleta
202-812-4477

Altamonte Springs, FL – On Tuesday, October 23rd, national Latino leaders representing Movimiento Hispano – coordinated by Hispanic Federation, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) – announced efforts aimed at turning out Florida’s Hispanic voters for the upcoming Presidential Election.

As it has in most recent elections, Florida will be decisive in electing the next President of the United States. And more than ever, the state’s Hispanic community is central in determining the outcome. Movimiento Hispano, a joint voter registration and mobilization project led by three leading national Latino organizations, has invested significant time and resources in Florida’s Hispanic communities to seize upon the untapped voter potential in this key state.

“With so much at stake, from jobs to health care to immigration reform, it is critically important that Latino voters turn out to vote in this year’s Presidential and Congressional elections,” said Hispanic Federation President Jose Calderon. “Hispanic Federation along with local and national partners has mounted a multi-state voter registration and get-out-the-vote operation to make certain every eligible Latino voter does their part to elect leaders who will preserve our social safety net and provide a real path to economic growth for our community.”

To maximize voter turnout of Latinos across Florida, two public service announcements will be running on Spanish-language television through November 6th. Speakers also discussed voter protection plans including a bilingual voter assistance hotline.

"The Latino community is positioned to play a decisive role in key battleground states, including Florida. Registered voters hold a great potential to shape the future trajectory of the country,” said LULAC Executive Director Brent Wilkes. “The only way to activate the electoral power of the Hispanic community is to get out and vote. LULAC’s efforts through Movimiento Hispano are pledging to register and raise Latino voter turnout so that we elect representatives that care about the same issues that we do.”

“The vote is an integral right shared by all American citizens regardless of socioeconomic background, creed, or ethnicity,” stated LULAC National President Margaret Moran. “The work that we are putting forth today as a unified coalition of Latino leadership ensures that this country maintains the integrity of Democracy as well as the Constitutional right to vote for all eligible citizens.”

“The recent spate of voter suppression laws shows that if politicians cannot win on issues they will instead attempt to win by disenfranchising millions of eligible voters,” said Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) Executive Director Hector Sanchez. “To combat this, LCLAA, along with its partner organizations, is conducting an unprecedented voter turnout and assistance campaign which will serve to protect the voice of the Latino community and once again demonstrate that the backbone of Democracy is civic engagement. Voting is a fundamental right that must be exercised in order to bring about positive change in our communities and this November, the Latino community will flex its electoral muscle.”

"For far too long, the Hispanic community has been disenfranchised and discounted,” said Florida State Voices Executive Director Denise Velasquez. “Our job is to engage more Hispanics into the democratic process, to assure them that their voices are valuable and that the ideas they have about how to face our challenges are heard through the power of their vote.”

“Voter protection and voter education are at the heart of civic engagement,” said Hispanic Health Initiatives Executive Director Josephine Mercado. “It is one of the most important leadership roles we can play to help preserve democracy in the United States. I believe that this election is one of the most important elections in the history of our country. It is up to ‘We the People’ to be vigilant and to make sure that things are done correctly at the polling places. The world is watching!”

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Movimiento Hispano (Hispanic Movement) is a project of Latinos for Democracy (LFD) aimed at increasing Latino civic engagement and voter turnout through grassroots mobilization and multimedia outreach. LFD is a coalition comprised of the Hispanic Federation (HF), the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). For more information, go to http://www.movimientohispano.org/