Latin American Voters 2024| Community advocates are working to get voters to the polls in North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) — With a close race, the people of the communities made their way to POLLS around the state.

The La Voz de mi Gente campaign unites several groups coming together to register voters across the state. rapidly growing Latino population.

There are now 300,000 registered Latin American voters in North Carolina.

It’s not always easy because the community is spread from big cities to smaller towns like Wilson, where Elizabeth Herrera goes door to door.

“Especially in a rural area, we drove 10 minutes door to door. But they’re really crucial conversations that we’re having not only with our young voters, but also with families,” Herrera says.

She’s hoping for a big turnout, but just getting voters on the rolls is a big step for a community that has sometimes been overlooked.

“We won’t see the result tomorrow. Or November 6, or maybe even a year from now. But hopefully we’re inspiring these voters to be continuous voters,” she says.

And while the Latino community is diverse, it was Puerto Rico that recently made headlines after controversial statements made at former President Trump’s rally in New York.

At Koki Creative Puerto Rican Kitchen, owner Dr. Doel Gonzalez, who grew up on the island, says it was personal.

“Because you’re talking about a certain subset of people, a subset of people who have a history of oppression, who have a history of being made to feel less than, even though we’re just as American as everybody else here.” Gonzalez says.

Puerto Ricans are U.S.-born citizens, and while they can’t vote for president while living on the island, if they move to the United States, they can, and Gonzalez says with 120,000 Puerto Ricans in North Carolina, it was a reminder of how strong they can be. at the polls.

“We’re talking about, you know, probably a few million in the US, and it seems to me that it doesn’t matter our numbers, they’re still going to treat us like that. Well, it was time to actually make our voices heard, no matter which way we want to go,” he says.

Polls have historically shown that Latin American voters tend to skew democracy, but it’s a very diverse population that is very much at stake and can make a difference in North Carolina.

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