Hispanic and Latino Americans are the fastest growing racial and ethnic group in the U.S. electorate since the last midterm elections, with about 34.5 million Hispanics and Latinos eligible to vote in 2022.

While the turnout for Hispanic and Latino voters nationwide has increased over the past decade, they still fall behind other groups. Hispanic and Latino voters face a variety of barriers, but efforts to limit voter access are increasing across the country.

Democracy doesn’t properly work when people and communities are blocked or prevented from participating within local, state, and national elections. 

Expanding voting access across the country ensures that communities are accurately and justly represented by its elected officials. 

In Massachusetts, there has been progress in expanding voting access as Gov. Charlie Baker signed early in-person voting permanently into law on June 22. 

Practices such as voting by mail and in-person early voting were first implemented in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The system of allowing [voting] in one short window, is one that has precluded many people in the past,” said Editor-In-Chief Matt DeRienzo of The Center for Public Integrity. “These changes are really leveling the playing field.”

Advocating for and increasing voting access includes expanding early voting, online voter registration, and same-day voter registration. 

In 2020, non-traditional voting — all types of non-election day voting including vote-by-mail and absentee voting — accounted for about 69.4% of the vote, according to Deliver My Vote Executive Director Amanda Pohl.

“Vote-by-mail programs and any early-voting program does provide greater access to the ballot and that supports the basic foundation of our democracy,� said Pohl.

“We had the highest turnout election in modern history,� she added. “We had more people of color [and] young people voting…and more people accessing the ballot who otherwise,� would have not be able to.

Nonprofit leaders at the Vote Local Day discussion on Vote By Mail & Voter ID’s emphasized that the rate of vote-by-mail has increased over the years. They also spoke on how early-voting, vote-by-mail, and absentee ballots have led to greater and more diverse participation throughout the country. 

“Those accessible programs do increase access to voting for disenfranchised communities, especially, and we have some research that we released in February that also shows that young voters and especially voters of color are more likely to vote if they’re given vote-by-mail options,� Pohl said in the discussion.

Although data has found that expanding voter access results in higher participation rates among communities, officials across the U.S. are working to backtrack some of these laws.

“As soon as those things happened, we immediately saw states starting to clamp down on voting methodologies…We’re also seeing backlash from legislatures that don’t want to see that increased participation,â€� Pohl said. 

Since May, almost 400 restrictive bills have been introduced in legislatures across the nation. Some restrictions deny assistance to voters with limited English proficiency, according to the Brennan Center. 

“Over the past 18 months, there has been a wave of anti-voter bills introduced and passed across the country, many of them designed to undermine the growing political power of Latinos and other communities of color,â€� wrote the Brennan Center. 

Research by the Brennan Center would support the idea that the ongoing increase in voter restrictions are strongly motivated/influenced by “racial backlash�.

“Racial Backlashâ€� is a theory that “describes how white Americans respond to a perceived erosion of power and status by undermining the political opportunities of minorities,â€� according to the Brennan Center.  

Important Reminders 

Registration: 

MA residents can register by mail, in person, or online by Oct. 29; residents are not able to register on Election Day.

Learn about the different types of registration at: 

https://www.boston.gov/departments/elections/how-register-vote

Not sure if you’re registered? Check your registration status at:

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/VoterRegistrationSearch/MyVoterRegStatus.aspx

Mail voter registration must be postmarked by Oct. 29 to be eligible. Multilingual forms including English and Spanish are available here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleifv/howreg.htm 

Online registration ends Oct. 29 EST. Register here: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/OVR/ 

In-person registration also ends Oct. 29. Residents may register at any local election office, the Elections Division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and at certain public assistance agencies, according to the Secretary of State’s website.  

Early Voting

Early voting is available between Oct. 11 – Nov. 4. Learn more at:

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleev/evidx.htm

Submitting an Absentee Ballot: 

Any MA resident can request a mail-in ballot either by Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. through mail, in-person, or online at: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/MailInRequestWeb/MailInBallot.aspx 

Track your mail-in ballot at:

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/TrackMyBallot

The mail request form for an absentee ballots is solely available in English at: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/Vote-by-Mail-Paper-Application-2022-AVBM.pdf  

Absentee or Mail-In Ballots must be received by mail or in-person by Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. EST. 

Voting Day:

On Nov. 8, MA Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. although towns are able to open at 5:45 a.m. (any resident standing in line at the polls at 8 p.m. is able to vote.) 

Locate a polling place near you at: 

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/WhereDoIVote

Or

https://gettothepolls.com

For more general information on Voting in MA: 

https://www.mass.gov/topics/voting

Additional Resources 

General

Be The Ones English Local Voter Guide 

Be The Ones Spanish Local Voter Guide 

Vote.org Poll Locator – https://www.vote.org/polling-place-locator/ 

Massachusetts 

MassVote Website – https://www.massvote.org/  

Publisher’s note: MA Latino News, under the Latino News Network umbrella, has put together this informational guide with the help of our partner Be The Ones, to help voters make informed decisions not only at the polls, but in their engagement with democracy going forward. 

The Hortencia Zavala Foundation (HZF) is proud to announce the inaugural class of Journalism Camp: covering race, ethnicity, and culture!

Danna Matheus, originally from Caracas, Venezuela, is a first-generation immigrant; currently residing in the Washington DC area. Danna is a Communications graduate from Frederick Community College and a Journalism student at the University of Maryland. Danna has experience as a news reporter for “The Commuter,” a student-run newspaper, and as a producer for “Discovering your Future,â€� a podcast that helps students to find their passion.

“I believe the more we know about different cultures, ethnicities, and races, the more tolerant and less judgmental we will be,” she said.

Giana Aguilar-Valencia is a junior at the University of Central Florida. Giana grew up in a Colombian-Immigrant household. She is a first-generation American and first-generation college student. “Navigating both the American lifestyle and educational processes has been a handful,” she said. “Speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere else felt like a built culture shock. Although I am grateful to have learned my beautiful language and grew up very attached to my culture, I find myself unique from those around me.”

Jacqueline Cardenas is an undergrad student majoring in journalism with a concentration in Latino Communication at DePaul University. Jacqueline is a first-generation Mexican American who wishes to diversify the news industry. She is the editor-in-chief of the first Spanish-language student newspaper in Chicago— La DePaulia.

“This program would allow me to be a part of critical discussions surrounding the harsh realities of being a Latina women reporter and become prepared to face challenges that will help me become a stronger journalist,” she said.

Kiara Coll Ramirez is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico, Arecibo (UPRA), and the recipient of the 2022 Hortencia Zavala Foundation Scholarship. Coll was also president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Student Chapter at UPRA. She plans to attend graduate school. “I am a proud Latina puertorriqueña searching for new opportunities and experiences to keep growing,� Coll wrote in her scholarship application. She said she never saw herself as a leader, but with the help of her colleagues worked hard to become one.

Nadia Carolina Hernandez is a junior at DePaul University studying journalism. Nadia is the print managing editor of The DePaulia and president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists – DePaul.

“My passion is reporting about marginalized communities and diversifying newsrooms and their coverage,” she said. “This city (Chicago) and its Latino community are unique. I will engage in this Bootcamp with curiosity and grit.”

The FREE virtual workshop is led by award-winning news media veteran and twice president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Hugo Balta.

As part of the program, all of the stories produced by the fellows were published on one or all of the Latino News Network news outlets. Balta is the owner and publisher of the Latino News Network.

“It is imperative that students get real work experiences and mentoring to navigate a newsroom that more often than not is not diverse and inclusive,� said Balta.

Due to a lack of equitable representation in newsrooms, there is an urgent need to train journalists to be transparent in news gathering and reporting on the complexity of racial identity, social constructs relating to ethnic terms, and cultural competence.

Covering race, ethnicity, and culture: a guideline for fair and accurate storytelling is a course designed to go beyond the inverted pyramid of basic news writing in examining the terminology, usage, and word choice of stories providing greater visibility and understanding of deep-rooted inequities in all aspects of society.

Guest speakers also share insights on networking with a purpose, strategies for managing one’s career, and the experience of often being the only person of color in the newsroom.

The weekly class will begin on September 7.

Publisher’s Notes: Special thanks to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) for their help in promoting the Journalism Camp. May of the candidates who applied are members of the organization.

The Hortencia Zavala Foundation (HZF) was founded in 2016 in honor of Hugo Balta’s maternal grandmother.

HZF is a not-for-profit organization that helps students offset the costs of higher education with scholarships. In 2021, the organization expanded its support of students to include the Journalism Camp.

Please consider making a donation to HZF: Support Journalism.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency last Thursday, restricting the agency’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the country as climate change continues to disproportionately impact low-income communities and residents of color. 

Moving forward, the EPA will need explicit permission from Congress to enforce such regulations. The 6-to-3 decision has also sparked concerns nationwide that the ruling might affect the regulatory efforts of similar federal agencies, according to GBH. 

“The consequences of this decision will ripple across the entire federal government, from the regulation of food and drugs to our nation’s health care system, all of which will put American lives at risk,â€� said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York. 

Research experts and environmental advocates continue to study the variety of ways climate change continues to affect vulnerable communities throughout the country. 

“Disasters can have the effect of widening existing inequalities,� said Caroline Ratcliffe, a senior economist at the Office of Research at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Black residents who experience extreme weather encountered financial issues three times the rate of white people while Latino residents faced financial problems more than twice the rate of white people, according to a nationwide survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  

“Facing extreme weather has had a substantial impact on millions of Americans, who have had serious property damage, health, and financial consequences,” said Professor Robert J. Blendon of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Publisher’s Notes: This story is an aggregate from GBH.

Cover Photo: Rick Bowmer / AP

The Massachusetts House unanimously cleared a mental and behavioral health bill last Thursday, representatives now have around six weeks to adjust their plan alongside its Senate counterpart before the end of formal legislative sessions, July 31st, GBH reported. 

Bill S.2584, an Act Addressing Barriers To Care For Mental Health, is a response to the growing mental and behavioral health crisis across Massachusetts. Rep. Adrian Madaro, the House chair of the Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Committee said the situation has been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The pandemic continues to disproportionately impact communities of color, including the state’s diverse Latinx communities that make up 12% of the population. However, equal access to adequate health care and treatment has been a long-time struggle for Hispanic and Latinx residents. 

In 2018, Hispanics were found to be 50% less likely to receive mental health treatment compared to non-Hispanic whites, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health. A few factors that contribute to this statistic include the lack of health insurance, general inaccessibility to health resources, and cultural barriers, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“We’ve seen alarming rises in emergency department boarding for mental health concerns, and increasing demand for services without a sufficient workforce to address the need,� Madaro said. “The situation is compounded by continued disparities and how behavioral health and physical health treatment services are covered.�

Read more in Mass. House joins Senate in mental health push by GBH News at www.wgbh.org/.

Publisher’s Notes: This story is an aggregate from GBH.

Cover Photo: Paris Alston/WGBH News

Welcome to another episode of Massachusetts Opinion+, where we talk about issues and opportunities of interest to the Massachusetts Latino community 

This week on Opinion+ we are joined by Noah Grigni an artist and illustrator whose work comes to Boston from Atlanta Georgia. Noah’s work explores gender, trauma, resilience, and the future of queer identity with aims to celebrate trans joy, empower trans youth, and uplift their community. 

Noah’s most recent exhibition Protect Trans Dreams: A Portrait Project is currently on show at the Boston Children’s Museum. The project focuses on a series of portraits Noah created in collaboration with local trans youth from Massachusetts. Using input from the kids, Noah was able to create depictions of the kids that showed their biggest dreams for their future selves.

 Noah worked on this project because they remembered how hard it was to come out as trans at 13 years old. Noah described it as “really isolating […they] wanted the kids in [their] community and life to feel celebrated and affirmed and connected to each other. Not only that but also to feel connected to the larger trans community and to have examples of trans adults who are thriving because that’s something [they] didn’t get as a child, and it can make it really hard to imagine a future for yourself when you don’t have examples of adults who look like you and share your lived experience.â€� 

On top of this, trans representation in popular media can often portray the community as traumatized and suffering. In the news, trans kids have become, in Noah’s words, “hyper-visible and hyper-politicized.â€� This makes it increasingly necessary to give them spaces and representation that allows them to be kids, and express themselves as they wish. 

If you’re interested in following Noah’s future work you can check their website and Instagram. Be sure to also go see their project Trans Dreams on display in the Boston Children’s Museum’s Lavender gallery until July 24th, 2022. 

Resources:

Boston Children’s Museum: https://bostonchildrensmuseum.org/

Protect Trans Dreams: A Portrait Project https://bostonchildrensmuseum.org/exhibits-programs/exhibits/gallery