Latinx nonprofit registers college, high school students to vote in special election

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Non-profit Poder Latinx visited Fresno City College, Fresno State, Edison High, and Pixley Adult School on Tuesday to register students to vote.

Here in the Valley, the organization has visited campuses for the past three years on National Voter Registration Day to encourage the Latino community to make their voices heard. Their goal this year was to register 500 voters.

“It’s super important to the Latino vote out there because we know that as much as we want things to change, without you registering, without you actually voting, things could stay the same,” said Norberto Gonzalez, California state program director for Poder Latinx. 

Gonzalez and his team could be found at Fresno City on Thursday. Families, kids, and college students all gathered at the quad to participate in Mexican Independence Day festivities. “As a true Mexican myself, I’m happy to see that, you know, it’s being celebrated here at Fresno City College,” Gonzalez shared.

With the campus extra lively, his team walked around, registering students for this upcoming special election. “It was pretty easy, vote guys vote,” said one college student.

On Nov. 4, California voters will find Proposition 50 on their ballots. The passage means new congressional district maps, which could help Democrats gain up to five extra congressional seats.

This move counters the actions of Texas lawmakers who redrew their maps to favor Republicans. “To have this special election, which has kept registration interest up and a voting interest up, that’s actually meant that we haven’t seen a decrease in registration, which is usually what we see,” explained James Kus, Fresno County’s election clerk and registrar of voters.

Kus reminds that if you’ve just turned 18, moved, or changed your signature and want to vote this November, you’ll need to register in your county. “So registration is available either through a paper form that you can get at a post office or my office, or you can even call up and we’ll mail one out to you,” he added.

You can register to vote online at SOS.CA.GOV or use the website to check that you are registered.