Latino Voters Encouraged To Research Issues, Vote

And Chapel Hill will be the site of the community's strongest last-minute push.

Organizers of next weekend's La Fiesta del Pueblo at Chapel Hill High School expect about 50,000 people -- including candidates for state and local positions from both the Democratic and Republican parties -- to attend.

The two-day festival brings artists, vendors and performers together to celebrate Latino culture.

"We hope to really get people excited about going out to the polls on Tuesday," said Andrea Bazan-Manson, executive director of El Pueblo, the Raleigh-based advocacy organization that runs the festival. "(Latinos) are an emerging, influential bloc of voters."

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 4.7 percent of North Carolinians classified themselves as of Latino origin. Latinos represent 4.5 percent of Orange County residents, according to the Census.

But no official statistics exist on Latino voter turnout. This is the first year that North Carolina voters have the chance to register as Latino.

"This year will be very revealing in showing the large number of Latinos who live and vote in the state of North Carolina," said John Herrera, a Carrboro alderman who is Latino.

The larger issue confronting the Latino vote is eligibility. Many Latinos living in North Carolina are not U.S. citizens and therefore are not eligible to vote.

But Latino organizations still want their constituents to be educated about the candidates and issues.

Last month, El Centro Latino, an Orange County nonprofit organization that provides social and educational services to Latinos, invited N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall to speak at its two-year anniversary party.

Marshall is running for the state's vacant U.S. Senate seat.

"One thing we can do is keep our eyes peeled for issues that will affect people in the (Latino) community," said Enrique Armijo, an El Centro Latino board member.

Herrera, who was elected to the Board of Aldermen in 2001, said this year's redistricting issues and terrorism fears have distracted people from specific candidates and issues. Nevertheless, he said, he's been talking up the primaries.

Even if Latinos turn out in force Sept. 10, the larger representation issue remains.

"We don't have enough candidates that are Latino, and we don't have enough elected officials that are Latino," Bazan-Manson said.

"It's certainly increasing, but we're nowhere near where we want to be."

La Fiesta Del Pueblo runs from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit El Pueblo's Web site at http://www.elpueblo.org.

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.