Washington,
DC –
The principals of five major national Latino and
community-based organizations – the Center for
Community Change (CCC), the Mexican American
Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the
National Association of Latino Elected and
Appointed Officials (NALEO), and the National
Council of La Raza (NCLR), and The League of
United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) – will
hold a telephonic news conference on Tuesday,
October 26, to discuss efforts under way to
protect the right to vote of Latino and
immigrant voters in the upcoming election. The
briefing will begin at 1:00 p.m. EST (10:00 a.m.
PST) (call-in information below).
Committed to
nonpartisan efforts to increase the American
electorate, these organizations are concerned
about the increasing politicization of efforts
to protect voter’s rights throughout the
country. Such partisan approaches and challenges
are undermining swift and effective responses to
a myriad of problems standing in the way of full
voter participation, including voter
intimidation, which has recently been documented
in a wave of reports and an increased volume of
calls to national voter hotlines. Concerns have
come from communities in Arizona, North
Carolina, and New York, among others. Efforts to
maintain the integrity of the American electoral
process should not depend upon the party
affiliation or the background of any given
voter.
To that end,
these organizations are taking several steps to
ensure that voters, many of whom will be voting
for the first time, receive the assistance they
need to cast their vote. These include
nonpartisan direct mail and voter preparedness
materials, hotlines, legal assistance, poll
watchers, and online materials.
Participants in
the news conference include: Deepak Bhargava,
Executive Director, CCC; Anne Marie Tallman,
President and General Counsel, MALDEF; Arturo
Vargas, Executive Director, NALEO; Janet Murguia,
Executive Director and COO, NCLR; and Hector
Flores, President, LULAC.
MEDIA ADVISORY
TELEPHONIC NEWS BRIEFING
DATE/TIME:
October 26,
2004, 1:00 p.m. EST (10:00 a.m. PST)
CALL-IN
NUMBER: 1-866-219-5829, Conference ID #: 584320
For information
in English and Spanish about the electoral
process, including voter rights, public service
announcements, language assistance
jurisdictions, and other materials, visit
www.nclr.org, www.naleo.org, www.maldef.org,
www.communitychange.org, and
www.lulac.org
The League of
United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the
oldest and largest Latino civil rights
organization in the United States. LULAC
advances the economic condition, educational
attainment, political influence, health, and
civil rights of Hispanic Americans through
community-based programs operating at more than
700 LULAC councils nationwide.
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