Right to Vote

The topic for our next Conversación on September 6th is Apps, Activism and the Latino Community. We chose it because of the confluence of two movements/events unfolding around us: the first – the proliferation of smartphone or online apps that ease and entertain our everyday lives; the second – the issues brought to the fore of conversation in the months leading up to what will probably be a closely contested presidential election.

In an election year, individuals – the essential unit of an electorate – are bundled into voting groups, which are then analyzed as a demographic units. From this practice, we can get a sense of what issues are important to a group. Contrary to expectations (at least on our part), immigration and immigration reform is NOT a top hot-button issue among Latino voters. See the gallup poll breakdown here.

Latinos voters’ issue priorities, while not identical in rankings to the general population, focus on the same issues that concern the majority of Americans who have had to live and make do with a tough and slowly recovering economy.

In our talk, we want to shine a spotlight on some of the issues that less to do with candidate platforms and more with the right to vote – the infrastructure, services and preparation that have to be locked down in order to ensure that every eligible voter – Latino or otherwise – can and does vote on November 11th.

And that’s where apps have been making a big impact. We’ll bring you our research list in next few days.

In the meantime, check out the excellent website Latino Vote Matters for up to date polling of Latino Influence on the election.

Don’t forget to RSVP for our event on September 6th via Eventbrite…and start preparing your questions.