Thread: Drive to register IMMIGRANT voters

Ummm, I THOUGHT YOU HAVE TO BE A CITIZEN TO VOTE!

Drive to register immigrant voters
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 07/11/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


Vaqueros & Wonkeros
Vaqueros & Wonkeros

AUSTIN -- A national alliance of advocacy organizations on Thursday launched a campaign to register about 85,000 new voters in Texas immigrant communities and to ensure that about 150,000 already registered get to the polls in November.

"One of the major stories after election day will be the rise in voters in immigrant communities," said Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund.

This year, the We Are America Alliance, made up of more than a dozen immigrant rights, ethnically based and community leadership organizations, aims to register 500,000 new immigrant voters in 13 states. Texas, home to the nation's second-largest Hispanic population, will be one of the group's priority targets.

The organizations formed the alliance in 2006 to harness the energy from huge immigration rallies.

In addition to continued concerns about immigration reform, Monterroso said, Texas Hispanics are worried about the faltering economy, the war in Iraq, health care and education.

"It's not one single issue that is mobilizing us," Monterroso said. "There was one issue that united us."

Daniel Arellano, chairman of the El Paso East Side chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, said the association has already registered more than 25,000 new voters statewide, including 4,500 in El Paso.

The group plans to continue its efforts in El Paso by hosting voter registration drives and using local media to encourage immigrants to obtain citizenship and vote in November, he said.

The group will also reach out to people who are registered but are not regular voters.

The prospect of changing the nation's direction with a new president, Arellano said, is inspiring more El Paso Hispanics to become engaged.

"The cost of living has gone up, gas has gone up, there's been reductions in health care, and in this region a lot of people have said É there's like a new light of hope in the future," he said.

Ken Ducre, a pastor at All Saints Catholic Church and co-chairman of the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization, said he has seen more parishioners working toward citizenship, wanting to vote in November.

Immigrants, he said, are often among the poor whose lives are most affected by government decisions.

Some are realizing that their vote can be a powerful force.

"We've seen change," Ducre said. "Our people know it can happen."

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com;512-479-6606.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_9844309

cvangel - Absolutely!

Here is a link to my SoS (Sec. of State) page regarding registration requirements (very similar to other states I have compared with too):

http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/votreg/vreg.htm

Pay particular attention to #2 -

Voter Registration

You may register to vote in Oregon if:

1. You are a resident of Oregon.
2. You are a citizen of the United States of America.
3. You are at least 17 years of age.

Note: If you are 17 years of age, you will not receive a ballot until an election occurs on or after your 18th birthday.
To register to vote or update your current registration:

1. Complete the Voter Registration Form. The form is in a fillable .pdf format. Open the form using the free Adobe Acrobat© Reader and complete it online by tabbing through the fields and typing in the requested information.
2. Print the completed form and sign it.
3. Mail the form to your county elections office or drop it off in person.

If you do not wish to complete the voter registration form online, you may print the form and complete it using black ink.

Your county elections office will mail you a card to let you know that your registration was received. If you are registering in Oregon for the first time, your completed voter registration form must be postmarked by the 21st day before an election in order to vote in that election.

A voter who is unable, because of the disability, to sign their name should also complete the Signature Stamp Attestation form.

Identification Requirements

New laws require that people must provide identifying information to register to vote. If you have a current, valid Oregon DMV Driver's License/ID, you must provide that number. A suspended Driver's License is still valid, a revoked Driver's License is NOT valid. If you do not have a current, valid Oregon DMV Driver's License/ID, you must provide the last four digits of your Social Security number.

If you do not have a current, valid Oregon DMV Driver's License/ID or a Social Security number, you must affirm this on the voter registration card, and if you are registering by mail, you must provide a copy of one of the following:

* valid photo identification
* a paycheck stub
* a utility bill
* a bank statement
* a government document
* proof of eligibility under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) or the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (VAEH)

If you have any questions, be sure to call your county elections office.

Hey, Daniel Arellano, are you checking these people to ensure that they are US citizens? If they aren't, you're committing a Federal crime pal!

CITIZENS vote. And I don't care how they try and color it.....it still always boils down to the "hispanics". Immigrants are NOT the only poor people in this country and aren't the only ones effected by government decisions. We have tons of poor American citizens who were just starting to see the light of day after GENERATIONS here and just beginning to reach the American Dream, when they pulled the rug with tons of legal and illegal immigration and this Globalization BS.

These ethnocentric groups always rattle their flimsy sabers right around election time. But with the apparent voter fraud with many illegals voting (see recent National Review story), these registration drives should be investigated very closely -- but probably won't.