NALEO Educational Fund to Provide Assistance to Latino Voters Nationwide on Election Day

Toll-free bilingual hotline 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA to continue providing live assistance on Election Day; GOTV campaign has targeted more than 36 thousand potential voters in lead up to Nov. 5

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the lead up to Nov. 5 (and the San Diego special mayoral election on Nov.19), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund is implementing a full-scale voter engagement program to ensure that Latino voters nationwide know their rights and have the information necessary to cast ballots on Election Day.

These efforts include operating the NALEO Educational Fund and ya es hora ¡Ve Y Vota! campaign toll-free bilingual hotline 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682) and the yaeshora.info website to provide Latino voters with vital information on every aspect of the electoral process. Voters will be able to call the hotline to speak with a live operator regarding any questions they may have about their rights or to report any problems they experience at the polls. The hotline, which is operated out of call centers in Houston, Los Angeles (headquarters) and New York City (in partnership with the Election Protection Coalition), will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. EST on Election Day.

"The Latino electorate is poised to play a decisive role in the outcome of mayoral and municipal elections nationwide," stated Arturo Vargas, NALEO Educational Fund Executive Director. "The stakes are high and our organization is working diligently to ensure that Latino voters know their rights and have the information necessary to cast ballots in 2013."

To help increase the number of Latinos who vote in 2013, NALEO Educational Fund has also been actively working to reach out to Latino voters who have failed to participate in the last three to four elections, especially those voters in the cities of Allentown (Pennsylvania), Houston and Philadelphia. In the lead up to Election Day, the organization made more than 53,000 calls to approximately 36,000 registered voters in these cities. Latino voters in a total of 11 states are being targeted this year. These states include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. 

In addition to the hotline and GOTV efforts, NALEO Educational Fund also recently released a poll monitoring toolkit that will be utilized in poll-monitoring operations with local community based organization (CBO) partners this year. The locations that are utilizing the toolkit on Election Day are jurisdictions currently covered by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These locations include: Florida (Miami), New York (New York City), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), Texas (Houston) and Virginia (Fairfax). The toolkit is available for download on the NALEO Educational Fund website at http://www.naleo.org/pollmonitoring.

For more information about NALEO Educational Fund's voter engagement program in 2013, please visit our website at www.naleo.org or the ya es hora ¡Ve Y Vota! campaign website at www.yaeshora.info.

Media Note:  Experts and spokespersons are available to address the organization's voter engagement program for media interviews.  Please contact Amanda Bosquez ([email protected], 202-546-2536 ext. 12) or Paula Valle Castanon ([email protected], 213-747-7606 ext. 4414) to schedule an interview.

About NALEO Educational Fund
NALEO Educational Fund is the nation's leading non-profit organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

Contact: Amanda Bosquez, [email protected], (202) 546-2536 ext. 12, (361) 548-6989 (cell) or Paula Valle Castanon, [email protected], (213) 747-7606 ext.4414, (323) 253-6431 (cell)

SOURCE NALEO Educational Fund