Latino Voters Engaged but Also Feel Ignored

In “Latinos Fall to Footnote,” (Opinion, June 27) Gregory Rodriguez’s analysis misses numerous points when asserting that Latinos have fallen off the political radar screen.

Latino voters in several battleground states will be pivotal in November. In 2000, George W. Bush won Florida by 537 votes, and Al Gore won New Mexico by 366 votes. As Rodriguez notes, the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund projects that a record 7 million Latinos will vote. NALEO projects that in the battleground state of Arizona, Latinos will have 17.9% of the votes. NALEO projects Latinos will constitute 10% of the voting electorate in Colorado, 13.2% in Florida and 29.9% in New Mexico.

In our recent national town halls held across five top Latino markets, Latino voters stated that they were watching both candidates and political parties very closely. They also stated, however, that they feel ignored by the candidates and not part of the process. This contributes to low voter participation.

Arturo Vargas

Executive Director, NALEO

Educational Fund, L.A.