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New Voter Website Launched to Engage Latinx Communities
WILMINGTON—The Votamos, We Vote Coalition, Delaware’s first statewide coalition of advocates working toward advancement of our Latinx/Hispanic communities, has launched a public education website aimed at voter and civic engagement in the First State’s Latinx/Hispanic communities. The website encourages new voters and the non-voting immigrant community to become engaged in our democracy.
Delaware's Latinx/Hispanic communities are growing significantly, particularly in the rural southern part of the state where immigrants have relocated to work in poultry factories, farms, and nurseries. With growing immigrant communities, the need for effective and collaborative advocacy on issues ranging from access to healthcare, law enforcement, and access to government services has increased exponentially.
The Votamos, We Vote Coalition, which launched in 2020, has a dedicated mission: to mobilize Latinx/Hispanic voters in the First State, and build their political power through civic engagement on community issues. The Coalition invites voters to be the voice of the voiceless through their vote, and for immigrants who don’t have the right to vote to use their power to motivate relatives and friends to be the voice that they do not have in our elections.
To help aid their mission, the coalition has created a website, VotamosDE.org. The goal of this website is to educate Latinx/Hispanic Delawareans on how, where, when, and why to vote, how to get involved through volunteer opportunities, and how to access helpful resources. The website is available in Spanish by default, and has a button to translate to English.
“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many of the disparities felt by the Latinx/Hispanic community. Those injustices far predated the virus, but resources and political will to address them are few and far between,” said Charito Calvachi-Mateyko, founder of the Votamos, We Vote Coalition. “Given the significant challenges facing Latinx/Hispanic people in Delaware, our coalition wishes to increase their political power and seed the ground for future advocacy on critical civil liberties issues.”
Members of the Votamos, We Vote Coalition include ACLU of Delaware , DE Civil Rights Coalition, DelACA , Department of Elections Commissioner , Immigrant Justice from the News Castle Presbyterian Church, Latin American Community Center , League of Women Voters-DE , Network Delaware , Office of the Delaware Ltd. Governor, Unitarian Universalist Delaware Advocacy Network , Wilmington-NAACP, YWCA Delaware , and Common Cause Delaware.
The website project was funded and coordinated by the ACLU of Delaware.
To learn more about the Votamos, We Vote Coalition, or to check out the new website, visit VotamosDE.org.
