Latino Vote Campaign Educates High School Seniors About Iowa Caucus
League of United Latin American Citizens teamed up with Des Moines Public Schools to expose a new generation of voters, especially Latinos, to the impact they have by casting a ballot.
Presidential candidates can't emphasize how important a strong showing at the upcoming Iowa caucuses are to their campaign. The long-established Midwestern stop has always been a telltale sign for Oval Office hopeful as to whether they have a legitimate chance at their party's nomination.
This election cycle's caucus will not be much different in terms of its traditional voter base -- most are White residents 44-years-old or higher.
LULAC partnered with Des Moines Public Schools to educate high school seniors about the Iowa caucuses. They launched their Latino Vote Iowa campaign by speaking with hundreds of students across the state.
"The fastest-growing sector of our Latino community is our youth, so we're excited to have this opportunity to work with Des Moines Public Schools," LULAC Communications Director Melissa Walker told Latin Post. "Through this partnership, we can reach out to all of our youth and engage them to become more active citizens, and hopefully, that starts on Feb. 1 with the Iowa Caucuses."
Walker added that LULAC has met between 200 and 225 students thus far, and plans on meeting an additional 450 next week.
LULAC is focused on reaching approximately 15,000 registered Latino voters across 20 counties, primarily those in the 18-to-22-year-old demographic that weren't old enough to vote four years ago. Millennials, after all, are expected to make up about 44 percent of eligible Hispanic voters this November, the Pew Research Center study revealed.
President Joe Enriquez Hendry has previously stated the organization won't support Donald Trump, but Walker said those views aren't projected onto high school students.
"We share information for both the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties' websites and tell students they can go to those sites to learn their caucus precinct," Walker said. "We explain the differences between the Democratic and Republican caucuses, so students can understand both. We encourage students to conduct their own research about political parties and the candidates who best represent their values."
LULAC revealed that minority students make up more than half of the student body in the Des Moines Public School system, and Latinos only make up six percent of the state's population. The importance in that six percent is that it is more than double the Latino population in 2000.
By 2030, an estimated 40 million Latinos will be eligible to vote, and demographics in Iowa may change by then.
"Our youth have the power to make change happen. For the first time, there are more millennial-age voters eligible to vote than any other generations," Walker said. "We've challenged students to use their right to vote and encouraged them to become involved in the political process."
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