Categorized under | Tags:
A new report circulating in media circles attempts to discredit the Latino vote with unfounded allegations of potential widespread voter fraud. Yet, what lies at the heart of the report is a fear that the strength of the Latino vote is soon to be realized.
This week was the last week to register to vote in 29 states. Organizations holding voter registration drives targeting Latinos were reporting moderate to high levels of success in getting people to sign up.
Enthusiasm is rampant across the country in the belief that this is the election that will awaken the proverbial “sleeping giant.” Already unprecedented follow-up campaigns are underway in communities to make sure Latinos deliver on their potential to show up and vote.
Expectations have even been validated with projections from the National Association of Latino Elected Officials’ Educational Fund that 9.2 million Latinos will vote in this year’s national election. However, while the Latino vote is on the cusp of coming into its own, there has surfaced an attempt to discredit it before it can be exercised.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t bring attention to what can only be described as racism at its worst if it were not for the fact that the author of the report-in-question is regarded by traditional media as an unbiased source on immigration.
Given the recent unfounded claims by conservative politicians and pundits that Latinos were to blame for the Wall Street meltdown, it’s safe to assume that the content of this report will also be repeated as fact when, in reality, it is far from the truth.
One look at the title of the report, “New Study: Non-Citizen Voters Could Decide Upcoming Elections,” immediately reveals a blatant attempt to discredit the entire Latino vote. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize the author is trying to connect non-citizens and the greater Latino community. The report’s implication is that enough non-citizen voters must be intermixed with citizen Latino voters to make the whole Latino vote questionable.
The author of the report, David Simcox, a former executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization known for distorting facts to support their stand against illegal immigration, peppers his report with “anecdotal” information to imply there is a conspiracy to allow non-citizen voters to register and vote.
He claims that by examining U.S. Census data, voter registrations, Pew Hispanic Center figures and “other sources” that he can deduce the number of non-citizen voters in the upcoming election.
Simcox claims that between1.8 to 2.7 million non-citizens are registered to vote in November. However, even he admits “exact figures of non-citizen registrants are impossible to determine.”
A report that contradicts itself should immediately send up red flags on the author’s research methods and logic. By essentially pulling these numbers out of thin air and touting them as fact, Simcox is creating an unfounded fear that voter fraud will taint this election. It may not be a coincidence that he is not the only one.
The National Republican Committee has launched a Voter Fraud Alert campaign. By alleging voter fraud, the party is able to effectively switch the focus of the Justice department from doing its historical role since the Civil Rights era, guarding against voter disenfranchisement, to now reinforcing the implementation of strict voter ID laws that always disproportionately impact low-income and minority voters.
While there will always be cases of voters mistakenly going to the wrong polls to vote or people intentionally violating voter registration laws, the degree to which Simcox projects it will happen won’t materialize. For one, there are too many safeguards in place to let that happen.
The other reason is that there is no conspiracy to bolster the Latino vote with fraudulent registrants. There doesn’t have to be. There is a realization among Latinos that our vote finally does matter, and it’s proving to be enough of an incentive for those people who have never cast a ballot to do it now for the first time.
There’s no greater proof of this fact than the release of this report. While trying to discredit the Latino vote, all it succeeds to do is unmask its author and underscores the fear that the Latino vote is finally a force to be reckoned with.
Comments (1)
What do you expect, Marisa? Latinos can't have it both ways. You can't march with the illegals without getting some caca on yourself.
If you still find Pew credible take a look at their 2005 report of characteristics. Over 80% of Mexicans arriving since the year 2000 are illegal.
30% of ALL foreign-born are illegal.
Your solidarity has a downside. Deal with it.
Posted by Alien Rants | 11 de Octubre 2008 a las 09:28 AM
Posted on 11 de Octubre 2008 09:28