LOS ANGELES, May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In the hotly contested race to determine who will become the City of Los Angeles' next Mayor, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), the nation's oldest Latino voter registration organization, has increased voter registration among Latinos by 12,235 voters with its "Latino Vote Los Angeles" campaign, bringing the citywide total of registered Latinos in Los Angeles to over 340,000 Latino voters.
"Across the city, Latinos are more engaged in the political process," said Antonio Gonzalez, President of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. "That engagement in the process has translated into more registered voters and significant numbers of leaders mobilizing their volunteer bases to register Latinos to vote."
For the 2001 mayoral race, approximately 316,000 Latinos were registered to vote. This year, SVREP worked with 55 different community groups, churches, and businesses across the city of Los Angeles helped increase the number of Latinos registered to between 340,000 and 350,000. From Mar Vista to South Central, the San Fernando Valley to East Los Angeles, SVREP volunteers have been canvassing neighborhoods looking to register voters.
"Our volunteers have been out in the community working to register voters," added Gonzalez. "With less than two weeks to go, Latinos are poised to make a significant contribution toward deciding who will be Los Angeles' Mayor on May 17. Based on the voter registration data we've seen, the Latino community will likely account for somewhere between 27 and 30 percent of the total votes cast."
SVREP Latino Vote LA Voter Registration Results Project Total Sylmar/Pacoima 2,464 NELA-El Sereno 1,717 Cypress/Glassel Park 1,430 Boyle Heights 1,278 Lincoln Hgts 1,119 Korea Town 930 South Central 758 Wilmington/San Pedro 757 Pico Union 648 Highland Park-Eagle Rock 638 Churches Project 457 Mar Vista-Venice 39 12,235
Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP) is a national nonprofit nonpartisan organization committed solely to the political empowerment of Latino communities through voter registration, voter education and voter participation. SVREP was established in 1974 by the late Willie Velasquez to encourage civic and political participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities. Since its inception, SVREP has registered over 2.3 million Latino voters throughout the U.S. SVREP has offices in San Antonio, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; and Phoenix, Arizona. Visit http://www.svrep.org/ for more information.
Appendix 1: List of Participating Organizations Cypress Park: Cypress Park Community Center Divine Savior Youth Committee Aragon Street School Red Cross Los Angeles Chapter Office of Councilman Martin Ludlow Pasadena City College MECHA NELA El Sereno: Congress of U.S. Mexican Women Voters Danza Yankuititl All Saints Church San Ignacio Church (Father Art) Jovenes Inc. (Father Estrada) East Los Angeles College MECHA Pico Union: SALEF El Cucuy Foundation St. Thomas Church Liborio Supermarkets Lincoln Heights 1 and 2: Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council Lincoln High School Lincoln Heights Boys and Girls Club LULAC Lincoln Heights Senior Center 90032 Votes/El Sereno: El Sereno Neighborhood Council El Sereno Chamber of Commerce The 90032 Voice Newspaper Woodrow Wilson High School Barrio Action Calvary Chapel Professor Sayed Hussein, ELAC Glassell Park: Anahuak Youth Soccer Association Achieving Parents in Action Mujeres de la Tierra Anahuak Academy NE San Fernando Valley: Pueblo y Salud Discovery Prep Charter School Santa Rosa Church Holy Rosary Church Pacoima Beautiful Boyle Heights: Union de Vecinos Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission MAHEC Highland Park #1: Hathaway Family Resource Center Franklin High School Eagle Rock #1: DSO The Rock Teen Center IMIX Bookstore TERA Occidental College Occi MECHA Highland Park/Eagle Rock: Diverse Strategies for Organizing Eagle Rock High School Franklin High School CD 9/South Central: One LA Churches: Grande Vista/Avance Publishing Korean Town: Korean Resource Center Mar Vista/Venice: Mar Vista Community CenterSouthwest Voter Registration Education Project
Web site: http://www.svrep.org/
