A VOTAR, MARIN!

A New Canal Alliance Campaign to Increase Latino Voter Turnout in November

By Omar Carrera, CEO

At Canal Alliance, we are determined to do all we can to help our Latino community live, learn, work and succeed here in Marin County. We are increasingly persuaded that we can only achieve these goals if the Latino community has a real say in the policy decisions that affect our lives and livelihoods. We at Canal Alliance are therefore expanding our efforts to build Latino political power in Marin County, so that candidates and elected officials will consistently take the needs and requests of our community into account. 

In the lead-up to the November 2024 elections, our team is working to increase Latino voter registration and voter turnout across our community. Across the state and country, voter registration and turnout rates for Latino voters are typically much lower than for other populations. 

In Marin County, 86% of all citizens (age 18+) are registered to vote, and 62% of these registered voters cast a ballot in 2022. However, just 53% of Latino citizens (age 18+) in Marin are registered to vote, and 52% of those registered actually voted in 2022. We must urgently address this stark gap in voter participation in order to build our community’s power and voice in the upcoming election, and all future elections. 

Our team will pursue a long-term strategy to mobilize Latino civic engagement both during and between election cycles. Our goal is to build a permanent infrastructure to work on both issue advocacy and electoral organizing in an ongoing way. This avoids the inefficiency of starting over from scratch every two or four years and ensures that our efforts have the combined effect of increasing voter participation and influencing real policy changes.

With the November elections rapidly approaching, our first step has been to launch the A Votar, Marin! campaign. Please join us by taking one or more of the following actions:

1. REGISTER TO VOTE (or verify your status) here by October 21st 
2. VOTE EARLY, by mail or in-person. Find more information here
3. TELL A FRIEND! Whether or not you are eligible to vote, please encourage all your friends and family to do so. 

With so many critical issues on the ballot, the stakes are much too high – at both the national level and the local level – to sit this one out. 

Let’s all do our part to make this election a turning point in the effort to build Latino political power in our county.  A VOTAR, MARIN!