Local voter registration Project aims
to register 500 Latinos by October 9

by Mike Gallegos - Flagstaff Resident

The Southwest Voter Registration Education Project was founded in 1974. It is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that focuses on empowering minority communities through increased political and civic participation. The organization works in a variety of ways toward this goal, including, voter registration and "Get out the Vote" projects, voter education, grass roots organizing, and educating and training community leaders.

The civil rights movement of the 1960s took on the challenge of achieving an equal playing field for minorities in political life. One landmark achievement of this movement was the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which removed certain barriers to minority participation in the electoral process. This marked a period of great political development and mobilization among minorities in this country, including Latinos. The SVREP grew directly out of these efforts to organize for political empowerment.

In August, SVREP contacted members of our local Latino community, to begin organizing a project for the Flagstaff area. Several members of the Latino community formulated a steering committee, and selected a coordinator, chairperson and treasurer to lead the local effort. We have set a goal to register 500 Latino voters by Oct. 9, which is the headline to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 7 general election. With the current trend of a huge population growth in the Latino community in Arizona, we feel that there is a great opportunity to increase the Latino influence not only locally or within the state but also with the presidential election.

The state of California saw great success with increased Latino voter registration in 1994, when Proposition 187 caused an outrage that galvanized the Latino vote. This year’s Nov. 7 election has Proposition 203 on the Arizona ballot. Proposition 203, which would do away with our current bilingual program and replace it with a one-year immersion program, should generate higher Latino participation in this year's election.

Our local project has sponsored registration efforts at our local schools, churches, grocery stores, parades, and at the Coconino County Fair. We have even gone door to door. Although our primary effort is to educate and register Latino voters, we will register anybody who has an interest. SVREP is a nonprofit organization and part of our mission as a local project is to seek contributions to help fund our local efforts. All local contributions stay within our community. We would like to encourage all of our community to register to vote and to get educated on the candidates and issues and then most importantly to get out and vote on Nov. 7. Remember "Su voto es su voz," which means, “Your vote is your voice.”

The last day to register for the General Election is Monday, October 9. Call the County Recorder’s Office at 779-6585 or visit www.co.coconino.az.us/elections/index.cfm.

For more information about SVREP contact Mike Gallegos at (520) 774-4723 or at mgallegos@mailandnews.com. Mike Gallegos was born in Flagstaff and has lived here much of his life. He has also lived in Tucson, Phoenix and at the Grand Canyon. He is the President of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association and the co-coordinator of SVREP for Flagstaff.