January 5 is the election in Georgia that will allow the runoff between Senate candidates and although Latinos only represent three percent of eligible voters, the growing community faces a challenge of citizen participation.
Until this Sunday, just over three million voters had already cast their vote in advance, of which only 19, 282 were Latino, reported Elect Project , although there are 072, 955 registered voters of that community .
Lulu Garcia Navarro, of Latinos for Democracy, recognized NPR that although they are few voters in comparison With other groups, Latinos will be key in the process.
A report by Bloomberg highlighted that Republicans have increased their efforts in Latino communities, seeking to gain part of the appeal that these voters had for the president Donald Trump in some states, such as Florida and Texas, in the November elections.
Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have sought to persuade Latinos with advertisements and some events, because it does not matter that there are “few voters”, since in such a competition there are How many thousands of votes will make a difference.
“If you can change to 10, 000 voters in one way or another, that could define the race ”, said Daniel Garza, president of the Libre Initiative, an organization affiliated with Americans for Prosperity. “They will tip the balance a lot.”
Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have also recognized the importance of Latino voters, although in the Democratic Party there has been some disappointment with the number of voters in that community who supported President Trump.
Garcia Navarro said that his organization has sent more than a million emails and has approached in another way potential voters.
“Our community is growing and more and more Latinos are eligible to vote… we have an increasing presence in the political process, which is where we really we focus on our non-partisan effort ”, he highlighted.
The activist highlighted that there are two problems that Latino voters face: language and distrust in electoral processes.
“There are two issues, one is access by language, we try to keep enough volunteers b Ilinguals, but not everyone manages to have access to that resource when it comes time to vote ”, he indicated. “(The other) is a cultural impact on those who come to this beautiful country for opportunities, but several members of our community have tried to avoid corrupt governments … that feeling does not disappear just because you live in a new country.”
Steak on the grill
According to Georgia Votes, which is analyzing data from the Secretary of State’s office on voting, of the votes cast so far 928, 069 are absent by mail and 2, , 948 are for early voting in person.
The efforts of both parties include their top representatives, such as President Trump, who will lead a demonstration in Dalton on Monday night.
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala H arris are campaigning with the Democratic candidates this Sunday and Monday.
Leaving for Georgia soon. Let’s get @ ReverendWarnock and @ Ossoff over the finish line. Two days to go.
– Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 3, 2021
If the Democrats win they will control the Senate, having the key vote of Vice President-elect Harris, but if the Republicans win they will maintain the majority again , although minimal, which would complicate Biden’s promised agenda .
Perdue’s campaign was recently complicated because she had to undergo quarantine, after she was in direct contact with a member of her team who tested positive for COVID – 19.
The check for $ 2, 000
A key issue in the campaign is the increase of $ 600 to $ 2, 000 dollars to the stimulus check that the leader republic year in the Senate, Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) has refused to vote and could affect his party’s contenders.
This Sunday on ABC News, the state leader of the Democratic Party, Stacey Abrams, said that the increase in new voters – who did not participate in the general election on November 3 – could be due to Republicans’ refusal for not increasing aid against coronavirus .
“It’s the Republicans who have done it for us,” said Abrams.