Thread: Napolitano:Hispanics should concentrate on voter registratio

Hispanics should be concentrating on register for voting says Napolitano

PHOENIX - Arizona Hispanics need to concentrate more on registering citizens to vote rather than organizing economic boycotts, Gov. Janet Napolitano said.

And a new national report underlines the need: It shows the number of Hispanics in the United States is increasing exponentially faster than the number who actually are registered.

The study by Pew Hispanic Center also shows that just 32 percent of Hispanics eligible to vote went to the polls That compares with 41 percent by blacks and 52 percent by Anglos.Napolitano addressed the issue in connection with plans by a Hispanic activist to have people stay home from work both during the first full week of September and again during the week leading up to the 2008 Super Bowl. Elias Bermudez, president of

"Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras" - Immigrants Without Borders - said that is in direct response to approval of what may be the toughest law to punish companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers. "I'm not sure that's the best way to do it,'' the governor said.

"I think the No. 1 thing is for Hispanics who are citizens in Arizona is to register and to vote,'' Napolitano said. She said that is "where the real power is, at the ballot box.''

The Pew Hispanic study said the growth of the Latino vote lags "well behind the growth of the Latino population.''

For example, it states that Hispanics represented nearly half the population growth in the United States between 2002 and 2006. But the growth of Hispanics registered to vote was up just 20 percent.

"By comparison, whites accounted for 24 percent of the population growth and 47 percent of all new eligible voters,'' the report says.

Of more than 44 million Hispanics, the Pew Center estimates about 11.6 million are not U.S. citizens, with another 15 million being too young to vote.

That leaves about 17.3 million Hispanics who are eligible to vote.

But just under a third of those actually voted, compared with more than half of eligible Anglos. At least some of that is related to factors beyond getting people registered: The study says a high percentage of new Hispanics in the U.S. are either too young to vote or are ineligible because they are not citizens.

Bermudez said the call for the boycott is not the sole focus. He said his office processed more than 4,000 citizenship applications just this month. "We're going to get citizens and we're going to get them to vote,'' he said.

Bermudez said, though, the message behind the employer sanctions law and other measures approved by voters is that Arizona does not need the help of those who are here illegally. "We want to show them there is a need for us,'' he said.

http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles ... /news8.txt

And a new national report underlines the need: It shows the number of Hispanics in the United States is increasing exponentially faster than the number who actually are registered.

...DUH! 10,000 illegals cross our border every day and only 25% are apprehended. No rocket science there.

This woman wants to keep her job and she evidently was forced to sign a bill she didn't want to sign.

No, Americans of Mexican decent, at least in Texas at least the ones who are my friends and family members, call themselves Americans - but in talking of ancestry - they call themselves Mexicans. They are not ashamed of it, nor should they be.
That's why Hispanic came as such a strange term to me. IT is something made up by someone to sound a little better.

Latino bugs me just as much as Hispanic.

Originally Posted by nntrixie

This woman wants to keep her job and she evidently was forced to sign a bill she didn't want to sign.

No, Americans of Mexican decent, at least in Texas at least the ones who are my friends and family members, call themselves Americans - but in talking of ancestry - they call themselves Mexicans. They are not ashamed of it, nor should they be.
That's why Hispanic came as such a strange term to me. IT is something made up by someone to sound a little better.

Latino bugs me just as much as Hispanic.

I agree, this notion that they shouldn't be proud of their heritage is wrong. Most Mexican-Americans are happy to point out that they are glad to be Americans and proud of their Mexican roots. As they should be.
The problem isn't with getting more people signed up to vote, the problem is making sure that the people who are signing up to vote are Legal US Citizens and not illegals.