Local organizers gathered Tuesday night in hopes of educating one specific community: Latinos.
Cal Poly students and faculty partnered with the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder's office and other local organizations to bring voter information to the Spanish-speaking community.
The Atascadero Library held the first information session. The future dates and times are as follows:
- Nipomo Library, September 11, 4 to 6 p.m.
- San Miguel Library, September 18, 4 to 6 p.m.
- Oceano Elementary School, September 20, 4 to 6 p.m.
- Cambria Library, September 24, 4 to 5:30 p.m.
- San Luis Obispo Library, September 25, 4 to 6 p.m.
The Latino Voter Engagement Project came to fruition after Cal Poly's Latino outreach team learned having a translator on voting day wasn’t enough for the Latino community. They wanted to do more after listening to the Spanish-speaking community voice their concerns.
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“Our mission was just to really start to plant that seed," Cal Poly student director Darius Rogness said. "I think this workshop has been such a big takeaway for us to really see how do we engage with them and how do we make sure that we provide those bridges for them to show up?"
The conversations with the Latino community began in May.
“This information has been so powerful for me," Rogness said. "First, also having the right to vote, but also some of my family members are going to be at the workshop tomorrow and I'm going to [help] inform them."
According to the clerk-recorder's office, in December of 2023, 1,328 SLO County voters listed Spanish as their preferred language. The county had 176,774 registered voters at the time of the March primary. The Hispanic/Latino population in SLO County is approximately 68,000. According to the Cal Poly team on the project, Latinos represent 24% of the population.
“Voting makes a difference for the county so that there is change because someone can lose by just one vote and by voting together we make a big difference in the county," Lumina Alliance member Silvia Ranquel said.
While the March primary brought out just 52% of registered voters, the county expects a higher turnout for the November general election.
Back in 2020, 88% of registered voters voted.
"[Latinos] in the community [don't] vote, because they are not heard or because they may not feel comfortable going to vote or do not have the necessary information to be able to register to vote," Center for Family Strengthening Family advocate Karla Najera said.
After attending the event, local resident Toni Boykin says she plans on helping her Spanish-speaking neighbors register to vote.
“It will make our elected officials more considerate of all the concerns of the community, which basically all enable us to work together peacefully," Boykin said.
