New ad campaign calls for minorities to go to the polls

Kirsten Searer

Monday, Sept. 13, 2004 | 9:01 a.m.

A new ad campaign launched by an independent group almost scolds minorities who don't vote -- and tells them to show up at the polls in November.

"Ahh, sisters and brothers, we did not survive the terrorism of slavery, lynchings, bombs, bullets and savage beatings just to surrender the votes that others were never able to cast," prominent black author Maya Angelou says in one television spot.

"Your place in that voting booth has been paid for dearly," she says.

The radio and television campaign begins today and is funded by Voices for Working Families, an independent, nonpartisan group that has registered about 3,000 new voters in Nevada -- mostly blacks, Hispanics and Asians.

The group hopes to register another 2,000 before the Nov. 2 election, said its state director, Andres Ramirez.

In another radio ad, Cheryl James -- known as "Salt" from the hip-hop group Salt-n-Pepa -- appeals to minority women.

"Take your tired, overworked and underpaid selves to the polls on Election Day," she says above funky music.

"I don't care if you're the king of bling or the diva of discount shopping," she says in another ad. "... All souls to the polls."

New Orleans Hornet basketball player Baron Davis also is recording an ad.

The ad campaign is the latest in attempts to increase registration numbers among minority voters in Nevada and other battleground states.

In Nevada, there are an estimated 34,000 unregistered Asian and Pacific Islander voters, 52,000 unregistered black voters, and more than 250,000 unregistered Hispanics, according to Voices for Working Families.

To vote in the Nov. 2 general election, Clark County residents have to register by Oct. 12.

There are many cultural barriers that keep minority voters from the polls, Ramirez said. Many don't know about options such as early voting and absentee voting that allow them to vote outside of their work day, Ramirez said.

Some people, he said, even showed up at Tuesday's primary election hoping to vote in the presidential race, which won't be decided until Nov. 2.

Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said she hopes this is one of several programs that will appeal to all types of voters.

"My main focus is, and I think Voices' is, to make sure people understand there are so many individuals who have died for the vote," she said.