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This Dispatch will outline strategies that include crafting
outreach and education initiatives that integrate city and state
government agencies with grassroots organizations and local media to
ensure 'Hard-to-Count' residents are included in the Census; enacting
state legislation that mandates prisoners are counted in their home
districts rather than in that of their prisons, and proactively
considering principles for redistricting legislative districts that move
beyond uniquely partisan concerns to addressing the needs of district
residents. This Dispatch will also aim to provide some of these
best practices and highlight resources, all with a view toward preparing
states to engage effectively with the 2010 and — looking forward — 2020
Census.
A recent report from the advocacy group America’s Voice
highlighted the growing power of Latino voters in the upcoming 2010
elections. Latino voters played a critical role in 2008 to propel
President Obama to victory in several key swing states that previously
trended Republican, including Virginia. Latino voter
registration and turnout rates have exploded over the past few years:
roughly 10 million voted in the 2008 Presidential election alone, a 2.5
million increase from 2004 and 4 million person increase since 2000.
Latino voter registration grew by over 54% between 2000 and 2008, and
turnout grew 64% over the same time period.
Last week the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of disenfranchised felons in Washington, holding in a summary judgment order
that the state's practice of denying the vote to felons violates the
federal Voting Rights Act (VRA). Notably, instead of basing their
argument on the nature of the felon disenfranchisement law at issue,
the case centered on the interaction between felon disenfranchisement
and the discrimination in the criminal justice system itself.
