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National Hispanic group will launch vote drive at Miami Beach conference

By Tal Abbady
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted July 11 2007


Hispanics are the nation's fastest-growing group, but community leaders worry that with low voter turnout rates, that growth could mean little at the polls.

Hoping to spur Hispanic participation this November, the National Council of La Raza will launch a national citizenship and voter turnout drive at its annual conference, scheduled for July 21-24 in Miami Beach.


Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are among the keynote speakers scheduled to appear at the annual event, leaders of the country's largest Hispanic advocacy group announced Tuesday at a news conference in Miami's Freedom Tower. Other speakers will include Gov. Charlie Crist, Republican U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

The conference, which typically draws key political figures, business leaders and Hispanic power brokers, will be at the Miami Beach Convention Center. It will focus on citizenship and building Hispanics' political clout through voting.

An estimated 23,000 participants are expected to generate $5 million in revenues for the city.

Organizers invited Republican presidential contenders Arizona Sen. John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney, but all three declined, said La Raza president Janet MurguÃ*a.

"If they don't see us as their base, that's a mistake," MurguÃ*a said.

The organization's campaign, announced Tuesday, is "Now is the time, 2008!" a grassroots and multi-media effort to encourage the country's 6 million Latino legal residents to seek citizenship and go to the polls. It will target eligible Hispanic voters with registration drives. The Univision television network and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials are partners in the initiative.

Though Hispanics represented 14.3 percent of the population in 2004, they accounted for just 6 percent of the votes cast in the 2004 presidential election. The low number was due in part to the community's large number of children and non-citizens and a 47 percent turnout rate among eligible Hispanic voters, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

"If we've learned nothing else from the immigration debate that ended in a disappointing failure, it's that we need to make our voices heard and hold elected officials accountable," MurguÃ*a said.

At the conference, organizers will hold a naturalization workshop for 500 non-citizens.

"Once they go through the complex process of naturalization, they can take action and participate in their own future," said Univision news anchor Maria Elena Salinas at the press conference.

In a series of speeches, workshops and town halls, the council's conference also will address homeownership, child health, nonprofit management, education and juvenile justice