ORLANDO, Fla. – Mi Familia Vota, a nonprofit organization in Central Florida, has been canvassing Orange County to get more Latinos and Hispanics civically engaged through voter registration.
Romer Negrete, field director of the organization in Orlando, said they’ve been going to shopping malls and events to sign up eligible voters.
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“This is beautiful because when you can help the community, you feel like you are doing something great for everybody,” Negrete said.
News 6 caught up with one of the team outside a Latino bakery in Orlando’s Azalea park area where Raúl Berríos used this opportunity to change his address from Orange County to Lake County.
“I’ve been voting since about ‘77, and it’s important to get our race (of) people represented,” Berríos said. “You need to have the representation. If you’re not represented well, then they do whatever they want to do, and it’s not fair.”
According to Negrete, misinformation within the Latino community is a big issue that’s caused hesitancy among voters.
“I feel after COVID, people, like, (are) really sensitive about the information, so you have to go the extra mile. Canvassers have to do more work to give that information,” he said.
The organization’s goal is to get 6,000 people in Orange County registered to vote by October 11, which is the registration deadline for the November general election. So far, they’ve been able to register more than 3,300 people.
For Negrete, who moved from Venezuela four years ago because of his country’s political and socioeconomic crisis, going that extra mile for the community he now calls home has an impact on the well-being of those around him.
“Probably everybody knows we don’t have a democracy in Venezuela. That’s why many Venezuelans are here, so it’s important to help the community to understand the importance of voting,” he said. “You have that right, and you can do it actually because in other countries, we have that righ,t but in the end, it doesn’t work nothing.”
Mi Familia Vota also has several community programs free of charge. They offer U.S citizenship workshops and information sessions for DACA and Temporary Protection Status recipients as well as immigration forums.
The next U.S. citizenship clinic is August 3, 24 and September 17.
For more information, call 321-400-5775.
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