This group’s message to Latino voters: ‘We’re silencing ourselves’

As political parties continue to target the coveted Latino vote, organizers launched a nonpartisan campaign encouraging Nevada’s Latino community members who are less engaged to participate in the electoral process.

Chicanos Por La Causa’s 2024 Latino Loud nonpartisan campaign launched Thursday focuses on getting infrequent or dormant voters out to the polls in 2024.

“Too many members of our community can vote, but don’t,” said Alicia Nuñez, president and CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa. “We’re silencing ourselves.”

An estimated 36.2 million Latinos across the U.S. are eligible to vote this year, according to the Pew Research Center. In Nevada, nearly 400,000 Latino are eligible voters, or 22 percent of the state’s electorate.

“But what percentage of those Latinos will register to vote?” Nuñez said.

Chicanos Por La Causa Nevada and Chicanos Por La Causa Sí Se Vota Action Fund launched a similar campaign in Arizona on Wednesday and launched similar campaigns during the 2022 midterms. As part of the campaign, they will invest in digital, traditional and social media to educate the community and partner with local organizations. They also hired Rudy Zamora as a Nevada advocacy director to commit to improving voter turnout, according to Joseph Garcia, executive director of the Chicanos Por La Causa Sí Se Vota Action Fund and vice president of public policy.

“This get-out-the-vote campaign will be a totally nonpartisan effort,” Garcia said in a statement. “We just want more Latino participation in our democracy, which will lead to greater political empowerment of our community and advancement of better public policy regarding important issues.”

Garcia said the goal is to increase participation of the Latino community by at least 0.8 percent or 1.6 percent.

One in 5 voters in Nevada are Latino, according to Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar. He said if turnout increases, Latinos will swing elections.

“We are a battleground state for a reason,” he said. “We are a purple state. Our margins are slim. But if certain communities step up, we will start to see the state who represents who we are, and we get to have a seat at that table.”

More than 50 percent of students in Clark County School District are Latino, Aguilar said. If those parents go out to vote, they will see a different school district and see different investments in education.

“I don’t care who people vote for,” Aguilar said. “I care that people vote. Because when they vote, things will happen.”

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.