Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s rabble-rousing allegations of “large scale voter fraud” has incited his followers, including white nationalist and alt-right groups, to proclaim they would monitor polling places to prevent “rigged elections.” The fearmongering has raised concerns of voter suppression and intimidation, particularly in African-American and Latino communities that tend to lean more democratic. And in a numbers game, that is what the opposition is worried about. There is a record 27.3 million Hispanic eligible voters for the 2016 election, 44% of which are millennials with an average age of 19, according to Pew Research and Census data. While the voter growth among this ethnic group is mostly of U.S.-born Latino youth, there has also been a 26% increase in eligible voters who have become naturalized citizens since 2012.
Activists are particularly concerned that in the midst of the election cycle’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, first time Latino voters could be targeted with “poll watching” intimidation tactics.
That’s why LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a civil rights non-profit organization, has launched a new iPhone and Android app tied to a broader Cada Voto Cuenta Voter Protection Program that offers citizens in 14 states with high Latino voter populations a way to report voting rights violations when they go to the polls on election day.
Full Article: Threats Of Intimidation Of Minority Voters Leads Civil Rights Organization To Launch Reporting App.