http://juantornoe.blogs.com/hispanic...nics-want.html

Hispanics want to vote, but many can't
July 6, 2008
By Ashley Kelly

As campaign volunteers register voters for the November presidential election, they've run into a problem — citizenship.


While a number of the city's Hispanic residents want to vote, many are ineligible because they're not U.S. citizens.

"There is a real desire to participate and such energy and knowledge, but they feel disempowered about how to participate," said Jerry Maldonado, a volunteer who recently participated in a voter registration drive in Washington Heights in the city.

About 80 percent of the Hispanics Maldonado met were residents but not citizens, he said. Many told Maldonado that navigating the citizenship process was a struggle.

The citizenship issue is not unique to Newburgh, where 36 percent of the residents are Hispanic, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The issue has also played out on the national stage.

The Missouri legislature is pushing for an amendment to its state constitution that would require proof of citizenship for registered voters. According to the New York Times, backers of the amendment say it's intended to prevent illegal immigrants from influencing the political process.

"There are some here who can vote, but just as many who can't," said Democratic volunteer Shellye Schoonmaker, noting a large number of undocumented workers in the city.

Schoonmaker has reached out to local business owners in the Hispanic community to draw new voters into the political process by distributing bilingual materials.

A 2007 report by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., found that 4.7 million Hispanics out of 16.6 million are U.S. citizens. The report cited citizenship as one of the factors that diminishes their electoral power, which will comprise 9 percent of the national electorate this year. Previous trends indicate that Hispanics will make up 6.5 percent of the voters who turn out in November, according to the report.

"We're missing out on people who really work hard to take care of their families and want to be a part of the process," said Sonia Ayala, a Barack Obama delegate.

On the local level, Maldonado said more outreach and information about how to navigate through the citizenship process is essential.

Source: Times Herald-Record
LEGAL immigrants can become US citizens after 5 years of LEGAL residency. Ilegal aliens cannot. You cannot be part of a process when you refuse to abide by the LAWS of that process DUH!

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there are only 4.7 million hispanics eligible to vote in the US! The remainder - 11.9% are mostly ILLEGAL aliens, and these are the ones Obama and McLame are catering to?!?!?!
FRAUD! FRAUD! FRAUD!