The wave is young, eligible Hispanic voters--more than 50,000 Latinos turn 18 years old each month in the United States, according to Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, a Democrat from Texas and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. And 47 percent of the under-18 U.S. population is Latino, so that's a trend that will only continue, he said during a recent Capitol Hill press conference kicking off a voter registration effort, Voto Latino, aimed at young Hispanics.
Actress America Ferrera, of television's Ugly Betty and star of the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, is partnering with the group and others for the America4America campaign. On Thursday, she detailed how the new voters would change the status quo.
"I've been on the ground in Alabama and in Arizona where laws are pushing our communities into the shadows. Campaigns are marginalizing us, leading many Americans feeling demoralized and defeated," she said. "[This] is a campaign to empower every single American voter with a truth about their own goal in our democracy. That's a role that is a right that is invaluable and it is a right that I'm fighting to protect and to promote."
As a 9-year-old growing up in Los Angeles, Ferrera said she has a distinct memory of her mother pulling her aside before she went to school one day. READ MORE
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