On Monday over 50 national Hispanic organizations launched an online and grassroots voter registration campaign, the Hispanic Heritage Month of Action, timed with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month.
The groups include Voto Latino, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC). The organizers stressed this was a bipartisan effort to boost the number of Latino voters participating in this year's midterms.
“Latinos understand that the only real way to impact our future is with a strong showing of our voting power," said Ben Monterroso, Executive Director of Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, in a statement. "We began the immigration debate with our record turnout in the 2012 Election, and we will continue fighting for our community and for immigration reform by voting,” stated Monterroso, whose group will spearhead the on-the-ground registration initiatives.
Voto Latino's Maria Teresa Kumar, whose organization will lead the online effort, urged Hispanics to "rise above our political differences" and exercise their right to vote.
While Latinos turned out in record numbers in the 2012 national elections, it was still about 30 percent of eligible voters who participated. Almost 25 million Hispanics are eligible to vote in 2014.
The grassroots effort comes at a time when the issue of immigration reform - favored by a majority of Hispanics from both political parties - has been stalled in Congress. President Obama recently announced he would not take any executive action on immigration until after the midterm elections.
