First-time voters

This woman is a famous anchor on a Spanish language TV network. She’s telling people it’s crucial to vote today. this public service announcement is part of a campaign by National Association of Elected Latino Offiicals. NAELO has been encouraging Latinos to apply for citizenship and then go and vote. People clearly paid attention. Nationwide 1.4 people applied for citizenship last year, including this woman. She was born in Mexico and has been legal since she was a teenager. She finally became legal at 43 for one reason, to vote, over her anger over the war in Iraq. She hopes to help pick a new president. Different concerns motivated this woman from the Mexican state of Baja. Her family crossed illegally into Arizona when she was a little girl, but then she married an American. She says she’s always felt like a foreigner during elections. The inability to vote became an issue when Arizona voters passed a bill in 2006 prohibiting non-citizens the right for financial aid for college. This time around they want to have their say. This woman registered immediately after her citizenship pass in November. She requested an early ballot for Super Tuesday. The downside to all this is a processing delay. Many would-be voters missed the registration deadline because their naturalization papers weren’t approved in time. That’s what happened to this man who became a citizen two weeks ago. He is a construction worker who crossed illegally. He obtained legal residency six years ago. He is looking for a presidential candidate who will make life better for undocumented immigrants. He hopes the race comes down to John McCain and Hillary Clinton, the only candidates who are trying to do something for Latinos. This official estimates 9.3 million Latinos voted in the last presidential election. This time they’re hoping for over 11 million.