Groups Push To Register Immigrant Voters in Georgia As Deadline Nears
Tuesday, September 23, 2014 – 11:44am
By: Elly Yu
ATLANTA —
With the deadline to register less than two weeks away, Georgia voter registration groups are holding drives all across the state. Some groups are focusing on immigrant voters as the state’s demographics continue to shift.
According to recent census data, nearly 1 in 10 Georgians are foreign-born. In 2013, the number of residents in Georgia born in other countries was 970,979, up from 795,419 in 2005.
On an early Friday morning, about 100 people became United States citizens at a naturalization ceremony in Atlanta. They took the oath of citizenship, which seals the responsibilities that come with citizenship – including voting – which is why a group of volunteers outside the ceremony have voter registration forms ready.
‘We want everyone to leave a New American and a registered voter,” one volunteer told the crowd.
Elmer Ventura, 36, of Lawrenceville, Ga., was one of the first at the registration table after the ceremony. He came to the United States from El Salvador 25 years ago, and says that he’s looking forward to having his voice count.
“I’m very excited because I’ve been in this country since I was 11 years old and since then, I haven’t had the chance to vote,” Ventura said.
The drive was held by a coalition of groups, including the League of Women Voters of Georgia, the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
“These are new Americans, and they are so excited about being an American. And the second step of that is to become a registered voter because that’s what being an American is,” said Elizabeth Poythress, president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia.
Since the coalition started registering new citizens at naturalization ceremonies in August of 2013, more than 5,000 voters have been registered, the League said. Recently, the coalition has been holding voter registration drives at five to six ceremonies per week, Poythress said.
“As you know, Georgia, as other states, are changing. The diversity is changing tremendously, and as precincts change, people need to vote and vote their voice and vote what kind of leadership they need,” Poythress said.
In Gwinnett County, the Latino and Asian-American populations – both immigrant, and native-born — have doubled since the year 2000. According to 2013 census data, the county’s population is 25.5 percent black, 20.4 percent Latino, and 11 percent Asian.
GALEO canvassers and volunteers go door-to-door in Lawrenceville to sign up unregistered voters.
Photo by Elly Yu
On a sweltering summer afternoon, college students Cristian Ramos and Harvey Soto went door to door in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett’s County seat, to sign up unregistered voters.
They went canvassing with the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, or GALEO. The group estimates there are more than 80,000 unregistered Latino voters in the state.
“[We] just kind of educate through our literature about immigration reform and voting rights as well,” Ramos said.
“Clearly in a very competitive, tight election, the Latino vote can make a big difference,” says Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of GALEO.
A report by the Center for American Progress says the number of legal permanent residents and unregistered Latino citizens in Georgia had the potential to swing the vote in the 2012 presidential elections.
Gonzalez says GALEO’s canvassers will be out every day until Oct. 6, the voter registration deadline.
http://www.gpb.org/news/2014/09/23/groups-push-register-immigrant-voters-georgia-deadline-nears