Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton told a crowd of supporters at Texas Southern University yesterday that she would call for automatic voter registration for young people when they turn 18, unless they opt out, and proposed a national standard of no fewer than 20 days of early voting in all 50 states. More, Mrs. Clinton declared she would push for a full restoration of protections as guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act, which was repealed in 2013. The encouraging words could have a big impact on the Latino community.
“I believe every citizen has the right to vote and I believe we should do everything we can to make it easier for every citizen to vote,” Clinton said. “We should be clearing the way for more people to vote, not putting up any roadblock anyone can imagine.”
The implications for the Latino community could be vast, and though the Voting Rights Act is often seen through in the context of Black voters, Latino growth in the states in which voter restrictions have been implemented are likewise seeing huge growth in their Latino populations. Supporters of firming up voting restrictions contend that the measures prevent voter fraud, while those who side with Mrs. Clinton’s ideas say that creating more voter requirements prevents minority and vulnerable communities from hitting the ballots.
“We would want to have those protections restored,” Arturo Vargas, executive director of NALEO said about how the repealing of the Act removed protection for 7 million Latino voters. “But we are very interested in a modernized Voting Rights Act that looks to prospectively protect the rights of all voters.”
Mrs. Clinton, it seems, is all in for engaging the critical Latino electorate.
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