Voter Registration
USHLI collaborates with local community leaders, activists, and volunteers in organizing and conducting nonpartisan voter registration campaigns. USHLI can usually provide all the financial and non-financial resources needed for a successful campaign. We also provide whatever training and technical assistance is needed to ensure that a campaign will produce the desired results.
Registration Campaign Assistance
Most voter registration campaigns do not incur costs or require financial support, but USHLI is prepared to cover very modest expenses that may be incurred, i.e., for a nonpartisan voter registration booth at a community event, etc. USHLI generally provides all the non-financial support needed for a successful campaign, including posters, buttons, pens, t-shirts, etc. USHLI purchases and prints everything in bulk, so expenditures for localized paraphernalia are not reimbursable.
USHLI also provides a Manual on Organizing and Conducting a Successful Nonpartisan Voter Registration Campaign as a basis for whatever training and technical assistance may be needed in any given community. Included in the training are demonstrations on effective techniques in registering people to vote, a review of the latest demographic information on the number of Latinos registered to vote in a community as compared to the voting age population, registration deadlines, setting realistic goals, targeting for effective time management, and deputy registrar and voter eligibility requirements, to name a few elements covered in the training and technical assistance. Do's and don'ts are also covered. For example, do register everyone, don't discriminate. Do share information about the election, don't endorse any candidates.
Working Together
All groups are invited to join together in forming an ad hoc committee for organizing and conducting the campaign. Rarely will USHLI organize and conduct a non-partisan voter registration campaign through an established community based organization because that approach may tend to discourage other groups from becoming involved. If an organization is the only one in a particular community, an exception may be made. But the more common policy is to form an ad hoc group that will dissolve at the conclusion of the election cycle.
The Growing Latino Vote
During the last 30 years the number of Latinos registered to vote increased from 2.5 million to more than 10.5 million. In fact, the number of new Latino registered voters increased by over three million between the presidential election of 2000 and the presidential election of 2004. This sustained rate of growth in voter registration is nothing short of phenomenal. Indeed, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Hispanic voter registration in America is increasing at a rate six times faster than the rate overall.
The national goal is to register two million more Latino voters prior to the 2008 presidential election. The goal will be reached by focusing on local elections in 2005, statewide elections in 2006, more local elections in 2007, and the presidential election in 2008. Individuals and groups interested in joining with USHLI in this national campaign are urged to contact USHLI to begin making the preparations necessary to have a successful nonpartisan voter registration campaign in your community by calling our Field Coordinator at (312) 427-8683.
