{"id":5061527,"date":"2024-03-11T09:48:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T13:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rilatinonews.com\/?p=5061527"},"modified":"2024-03-11T09:48:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T13:48:41","slug":"lnn-spotlight-supporting-a-diverse-electorate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/2024\/03\/11\/lnn-spotlight-supporting-a-diverse-electorate\/","title":{"rendered":"LNN Spotlight: Supporting A Diverse Electorate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On this episode of LNN Spotlight, Reporter\/Editor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/belendumont\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bel\u00e9n Dumont<\/a> speaks with Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore and Director of Elections Kathy Placencia about upcoming election deadlines, state-wide efforts to increase civic engagement, and the potential voter power of the state\u2019s diverse Latino electorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Voter registration rates across Rhode Island have <a href=\"https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/DataInformation\/VoterTurnout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">continually increased since the 1970s<\/a> while the number of ballots cast remains steady. Secretary Amore and Director Placencia shared about efforts to mobilize potential voters and increase voting accessibility including bilingual informational campaigns, expanding early voting hours, and a new law that allows 17-years-olds to participate in Rhode Island primaries.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Voting in Rhode Island\u2019s 2024 Elections\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7CZ_yYAaqDI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 17% of Rhode Island\u2019s population currently identifies as Hispanic or Latino. As these communities expand every year\u2014outpacing the growth of all other ethnic\/racial groups\u2014a young Latino electorate continually grows.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the Latino community and their voting power is here to stay,\u201d Secretary Amore told RI Latino News. \u201cEvery elected official I know pays attention to that and understands that this is a growing community and a diverse community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Secretary Amore shared about the importance of civically informing and engaging students and how the Department of State collaborates with schools.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new initiative, <em>The <\/em><em>Student Civic Liaison Program<\/em>, is composed of 89 high school students across the state who meet with community, educational, and governmental leaders to discuss \u201chow to access the government and how we can make an impact.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Director Placencia and Secretary Amore brought up the increase of Latino representation among elected officials and spoke about ongoing efforts to civically engage the ocean state\u2019s historically underserved communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe make every effort to provide bilingual voter information as much as possible,\u201d explained Director Placencia. \u201cUltimately, our focus is on ensuring that every eligible voter and candidate in Rhode Island has the information they need to participate in our elections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Political agendas continue to weaponize misinformation as we have seen in recent years\u2014however, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2024\/feb\/10\/social-media-ai-misinformation-election-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">combined with the rise of AI technology<\/a>, these tactics may pose a greater threat to democracy. The Trusted Info 2024 Initiative encourages all residents to get election information from trusted sources, said Secretary Amore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have seen so much misinformation around elections and around election results that we want Rhode Islanders to know that they can trust the information they\u2019re getting from our office,\u201d shared Secretary Amore.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Residents can find accurate information online, register to vote, apply for a mail-in ballot, and more\u2014in English and Spanish\u2014at vote.ri.gov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat people may not realize is that vote.ri.gov also shares data on voter information and voter turnout in Rhode Island,\u201d said Director Placencia. \u201cOur office is committed to making this information available to anyone who needs it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Department of State will also accept any invitation from community groups to discuss topics like voter rights, government access, and civic engagement with residents, added Secretary Amore.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ocean State\u2019s mail ballot applications deadline is March 12 and early voting runs from March 13 to April 1. The presidential preference primary is on April 2.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>RESOURCES MENTIONED<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Secretary of State Voter Information Center: <a href=\"https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Online Mail Ballot Application: <a href=\"https:\/\/mailballot.sos.ri.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/mailballot.sos.ri.gov\/<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Online Voter Registration: <a href=\"https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/Home\/RegistertoVote?ActiveFlag=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/Home\/RegistertoVote?ActiveFlag=1<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find Your Polling Place At: <a href=\"https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/Home\/PollingPlaces?ActiveFlag=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/vote.sos.ri.gov\/Home\/PollingPlaces?ActiveFlag=2<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Department of State\u2019s Civic Education Efforts: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.ri.gov\/divisions\/civics-and-education\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.sos.ri.gov\/divisions\/civics-and-education<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Publisher\u2019s Note: <\/em><\/strong>Rhode Island Latino News and the Rhode Island Department of State are partners in providing Hispanic-Latino communities with resources to civically inform, educate, and empower them to make the best decisions for themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On this episode of LNN Spotlight, our guests speak on upcoming election deadlines, state-wide efforts to increase civic engagement, and the state\u2019s Latino electorate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5061528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,120],"tags":[1561,1726,3071,4701,4960,4970,4983,4989,40,5904],"ppma_author":[6008],"class_list":["post-5061527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-democracy","category-featured","tag-director-of-elections-kathy-placencia","tag-election-misinformation","tag-kathy-placencia","tag-providence","tag-rhode-island","tag-rhode-island-department-of-state","tag-rhode-island-latino-electorate","tag-rhode-island-secretary-of-state-gregg-amore","tag-voter-registration","tag-woonsocket"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Participate-in-clinical-trial-scaled-1.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Participate-in-clinical-trial-scaled-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Participate-in-clinical-trial-scaled-1-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Participate-in-clinical-trial-scaled-1-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Participate-in-clinical-trial-scaled-1-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Participate-in-clinical-trial-scaled-1-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2024\/03\/Participate-in-clinical-trial-scaled-1-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jermaine Smith","author_link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/author\/jay\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"On this episode of LNN Spotlight, our guests speak on upcoming election deadlines, state-wide efforts to increase civic engagement, and the state\u2019s Latino electorate.","authors":[{"term_id":6008,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"belen-dumont","display_name":"Bel\u00e9n Dumont","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2023\/04\/BDHeadshot.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2023\/04\/BDHeadshot.jpg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"mfb_rest_fields":["title","uagb_featured_image_src","uagb_author_info","uagb_comment_info","uagb_excerpt","authors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5061527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5061527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5061527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5061528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5061527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5061527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5061527"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/riln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5061527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}