Ahead of the May 28 voter registration deadline for the upcoming primary elections, Latinx elected officials and leading Latinx organizations like LatinoJustice PRLDEF and NALEO Educational Fund launched a Week of Action on Monday, May 24, to promote a series of public events throughout the week, urging the New York City Latinx community to register to vote.

 

The week kicked off on Monday at 10 a.m. at Roberto Clemente Plaza, outside 530 Willis Avenue (off Third Avenue) in the South Bronx. The groups plan to use the occasion to highlight educational efforts on ranked choice voting, early and absentee voting, and the importance of the Latinx vote as New York City recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

LatinoJustice PRLDEF representatives say its organization works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering its community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. The organization has been in existence for more than 40 years.

Thank you @SenatorBiaggi for joining @NALEO’s Ready to Vote Phone Bank tonight as part of our #RankedChoiceVoting Latino Week of Action w/ @YoSoyDUSA, @latinojustice, @HispanicFed, & @RankTheVoteNYC! pic.twitter.com/vgY1PNVqIp

— Juan Rosa (@JuanRosa_NYC) May 25, 2021

 

Meanwhile, NALEO Educational Fund officials say it is the nation’s leading 501(c) (3) non-profit, non-partisan organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

 

Advocates say Latinx voters will benefit from this week’s robust, culturally and linguistically accessible outreach and educational campaign by increasing awareness about ranked choice voting and getting the Latinx community engaged and excited about voting in general.

 

They say the implementation of ranked choice voting in New York City has presented unique challenges for Latinx voters. “New York City will be the largest and most culturally and linguistically diverse jurisdiction to implement Ranked Choice Voting. This means that there are not a lot of examples of best practices on outreach and education that can be replicated in New York City,” a statement from LatinoJustice PRLDEF read.

The groups said that research is scarce on how voting communities have engaged with ranked choice voting ballots. It is also scarce on how such voters receive and internalize education and information on the topic. As a result, representatives of the Week of Action say it is critically important that Latinx voters are empowered with information about electoral procedures about the June primaries. They said this is especially so because of the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Latinx community and other communities of color.

 

Such communities, they say, have been over-represented in terms of COVID-19 fatalities, infection rates, and job losses arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. They added that New York City leaders, elected in 2021, will be responsible for policymaking decisions that will facilitate recovery from these crises and as such, it is essential that the Latinx community help shape these policies with their votes.

 

According to data from the Census Bureau, which we hoped might help to provide some insight into the languages spoken in the borough, 56.4 percent (the majority) of The Bronx comprises members of the Latinx community. Of this population, residents may or may not speak Spanish, depending on how long they have lived here. The census data indicated that 35.3 percent of the population of the borough is foreign born.

 

Meanwhile, in District 11, according to City data, the top ten languages spoken in the district are Spanish, “African,” (no further breakdown is provided), “Other Indo E,” “Other Indic,” French, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, Korean and Arabic. Out of the district’s total population of 219,006, it stated that there are 99,347 “English speakers” but did not provide the numbers for the other languages spoken, and therefore, it is not clear if English is the main language spoken outside of the “top ten” or not.

 

Neither does it specify if English refers solely to native English speakers or all English speakers including those who speak it as a second or additional language.

Norwood News reached out to the City for clarification on these language descriptions. We were provided with the attached charts which provide a breakdown at borough level only and referred us to the Department of City Planning (DCP). We are following up with DCP and will update the story once we have more information.

 

Meanwhile, in District 14, according to City data, the top ten languages in the district are Spanish, “African,” French, “Other Indo E,” “Other Indic,” Tagalog, French Creole, Arabic, Vietnamese and Chinese. Out of the population of 254,369, English speakers account for 66,257.

 

In District 15, according to City data, the top ten languages in the district are Spanish, “African,” “Other Indo E,” French, “Other Indic,” Arabic, Urdu, French Creole, Vietnamese and Italian. Of the 282,917 residents of the district, 92,013 are English speakers.

As reported recently by Norwood News, the Bronx chapter of the NAACP is also working on similar voter outreach efforts to encourage greater voter registration and voter participation in all elections, in communities of color.

As the June 22 primary date approaches, we also reported, that all voters are being encouraged to mark their calendars with the following important dates.

June Primary Election Important Calendar Dates

• Friday, May 28: voter registration deadline
• Saturday, June 12: early voting begins
• Tuesday, June 15: absentee ballot request deadline
• Sunday, June 20: early voting ends
• Tuesday, June 22: Election Day. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

 

For a full list of the candidates running in each Bronx and Citywide race, see here.