The Door-To-Door Grind to Lift Latino Voter Turnout
*Get out the Latino vote? This is how it’s done. One voter at a time, eyeball-to-eyeball, direct ask, time and again. VL
By David Catanese, U.S. News & World Report (7 minute read)
LAS VEGAS — In her quest to boost the population of Latino voters, Arely Chaparro has ventured down seedy crime-plagued streets with a taser in her satchel, withstood doors slamming in her face and even encountered open drug use.
“I worked those apartments last election,” Chaparro gestures as she walks a neighborhood about 10 miles east of the Las Vegas strip that abuts an interstate highway. “It was really bad. There were people shooting heroin outside like it was normal.”
On this sun-baked afternoon just two days ahead of the start of Nevada’s early voting season, the recurring barrier to reaching her prospects is the chain-linked fence — usually affixed with a ‘Beware of Dog’ sign — which is a common amenity in this racially-mixed enclave of lower-income residences.
“I usually don’t go into gates, because most of the time they have dogs,” she says. “I was chased by a dog the other day.”
The 25-year-old Chaparro is working the doors as a part-time employee for Mi Familia Vota, one of myriad organizations dedicated to motivating Hispanic voters to exercise their right to vote this election year. READ MORE
