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Needed: more Hispanic voters Photo by Steve Johnson Members of the Rogue Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are calling Hispanics in hopes of getting them to register to vote. "We want to be recognized by politicians so they can address our needs," says President Al Martinez. Local effort helps build database By DANI DODGE For months, Hispanic leaders and volunteers have been poring over the phone book in search of Latino names. Each time they find a Garcia or a Gonzalez or a Gutierrez they jot it down, and sometimes they call the number. The leaders want to build a database of Hispanics in the Rogue Valley so they can boost the low voter rate -- and make a difference at the ballot box. "We feel our community, the Hispanic community, is big enough so we could have an impact," said Al Martinez, the president of the Rogue Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "We want to be recognized by politicians so they can address our needs." The chamber effort is actually part of larger statewide and national movements to get out the vote among Hispanics. Last week, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury joined the Oregon Latino Voter Registration Education Project to kick off a statewide campaign called Oregon Latino Vote 2000. "Changes in Oregon's population have not been adequately reflected in the makeup of voters," Bradbury said in a prepared statement. "We need more representatives from the Latino community to run for public office, we need to encourage more -- particularly young -- Latinos to vote." In a 1998 Oregon Population Survey, about 20 percent of respondents said they did not vote in the 1996 presidential election. Of all the races and ethnicities surveyed, Hispanics had the highest nonvoting rate at about 50 percent. Only 18 percent of whites reported not voting. Nationwide, several organizations are working to increase Hispanic voters by 1.5 million by November, raising the number of Hispanic voters from 6.5 to 8 million. The Oregon Latino Voter Registration Education Project has set a goal of registering 5,000 Latino voters by the November 2000 election, said Frank Garcia Jr., co-founder of the project. "We are the largest minority group in Oregon and the largest growing," Garcia said. "We want to make sure our voice is heard at the policy level." Garcia said Medford will be one of the focus areas of the statewide campaign. "In the community we think that Medford is a place with a big populace and a good place to get people to register," Garcia said. "It's a big part of our strategic plan." In the Rogue Valley, Hispanic organizers are hoping for between 500 and 1,000 new registered voters by fall. Martinez estimates that currently only 5 to 10 percent of eligible Hispanics actually register to vote. Oftentimes they are afraid of calling attention to themselves or their families or friends because of fear of deportation, Martinez said. And at other times, they just aren't familiar with the process of voting. Many Hispanics in the Rogue Valley are first-generation emigrants from Mexico, where voting is seen as having little impact on political outcome. "It's not just enough to encourage them to vote," said Manuela Marney, director of the Hispanic Chamber. "We have to teach them how to vote." But they have to find them first. And with no database, that involves thumbing through the phone book and writing down each Hispanic name and phone number. Then volunteers and leaders call random numbers on the list. They ask if the person can give them names and phone numbers of other members of their family. They get answers only about half the time. "Its been a long, slow, painful process,' Martinez said. "But we are serious about trying to lift up the Hispanic community. We need to encourage and strengthen the Hispanic community to become active, strong participants." Back at the phone book: Right now, they are going through the Ns. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA