Radio ad implores Hispanics to get out and vote

By Timothy Pratt

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.

"Our community is under attack," a male voice intones in the radio ad.

"There are people who don't want us here," a female voice continues.

That foreboding beginning then segues into a reminder that "being Latino in Las Vegas is becoming more difficult every day," that some politicians are "persecuting ... undocumented workers" and that voting is a way to "confront those who want to get rid of us."

Democracia USA, a Miami-based organization, is expected to hit four local Spanish-language radio stations with the spots later this week in what may be the only nonpartisan effort during this election cycle by local or national groups to awaken a so-called "sleeping giant:" the Hispanic voter.

The radio spot focuses on immigration rights and the notion of voting to protect rights to mobilize those who have not voted before - a strategy that may work for that sector of the Hispanic electorate, according to analysts.

Radio, an especially important medium in the Hispanic community, played a key role in drawing people last spring to immigration marches across the nation.

Another local radio and television campaign targeting Hispanics is being funded by the National Education Association, but it specifically backs Tessa Hafen's bid for Congress.

The efforts come on the heels of lower-than-expected Hispanic voter registrations over the past six months, despite forecasts to the contrary after last spring's marches.

As of Tuesday, there were an estimated 90,563 Hispanics among 832,862 registered voters in Clark County, according to the election department. Of those Hispanic voters, 69,693 are on active rolls, meaning they have voted in a recent federal election and could be located by mail. With Clark County having 648,986 active voters, Hispanics comprise 10.7 percent of the total - despite representing about 25 percent of the population.

Andres Ramirez, a political consultant who ran unsuccessfully for North Las Vegas mayor in 2005, says there are not many more eligible Hispanics left in the Las Vegas Valley, either because they have not turned 18 or are not citizens.

Census figures from 2004 show that there are about 151,000 Hispanic citizens of voting age in Nevada, and current estimates are that nearly 120,000 Hispanics are registered statewide.

Pilar Weiss, a board member of the Citizenship Project, a nonprofit organization that helps immigrants become citizens, said she has seen a marked increase in applicants since immigration was in the news last spring.

She noted that an average of 100 people have applied for citizenship every month this year, compared with 60 per month last year. Most of the applicants are Hispanic.

But even those numbers are small, so the effort to strengthen Hispanics' political voice must focus on getting those who are registered to go to the polls.

Ramirez says that the Democracia USA spots may be on target when it comes to the new Hispanic voter.

"Obviously immigration is important to a segment of Hispanic voters ... (who) have family and friends impacted by the issue," Ramirez said.

Harley Shaiken, executive director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, said the spot is an attempt to "convert the grievances that brought people into the streets into the energy that will take them to polling stations.

"It wasn't simply undocumented people on the street" in last spring's marches, Shaiken said. Rather, the marches demonstrated "broad solidarity.

"This (ad) is meant to see how broad," he said.