A Latino view of the electoral process

According to the U.S. Spanish Newswire Services (EFE EEUU), Florida’s electoral process accommodated the record turnout smoothly and without major problems. They collected the opinion of several Latino voters who in turn though that: voting was not complicated but needs to be better organized; that she was amazed at how easy it was to operate the voting system, the lack of waiting lines and thought authorities were right in allowing a 14-day early voting period; and finally another voter thought that voting was “easy” and the ballot simpler than in previous elections. However, not everyone felt the same way, one voter thought that voting did not take much tame but she preferred the method used in previous elections which was more “computerized.”

Another EFE story reports that the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) received over a thousand calls related to the electoral process. Some people called to get election information concerning issues such as registration, while others called to place complaints about broken voting machines, candidates whose names did not appear on the ballot, or denials of the right to vote. NALEO has been trying to teach Latino voters to discuss voting problems with election officials but never leave the polling place without casting a ballot. Also, the association created a legal branch called “Justicia Latina” to file suits arising from voting irregularities. Differently from the types of complaints we’ve been discussing up to the moment, the NALEO director informed that they are currently investigating two discrimination complaints. In doing so, the employ Spanish speaking lawyers who can communicate to Spanish-speaking Latino voters.

Inés and Janell