MERCEDES, Texas - Although early voting starts today in Texas, many potential voters do not think participating in elections is worth the bother. In recent years, Texas has consistently ranked near the bottom of all states when it comes to turnout.

It's a vicious cycle, according to Daniel Diaz, a community organizer for the César Chávez-founded south Texas group known as LUPE (La Unión del Pueblo Entero). Diaz has been organizing get-out-the-vote efforts in the Rio Grande Valley. He says many people who feel routinely ignored by politicians they distrust are too fed up to go to the polls, which further diminishes their political power. If they simply voted in larger numbers, Texas Latinos could have a huge impact, he says.

"In 2010, we had over 4 million Latino registered voters, but only 25 percent came out. Nearly half the population is Latino, but (they have) very little political power. We also have a large number of permanent residents who haven't taken the step to become a citizen."

The vast majority of the 1 million documented permanent residents in Texas are Latino. Polls show most Latinos in the state lean Democratic, but Diaz says that's another reason many don't think their votes matter in a deep-red state such as Texas. However, some political analysts say Texas could turn purple - or even blue - if and when the so-called "sleeping giant" Latino electorate becomes more fully engaged.

Diaz is part of the Equal Voice Network, which has about 100 door-to-door canvassers in Cameron and Hidalgo counties trying to get out the vote. They are focusing on infrequent voters, urging them to "think locally." That's because, although presidential politics may take up most of the oxygen this election season, participation in state-level elections is more likely to have a real impact on Texas communities, he says.

"It's not about trusting a candidate or a political party; it's about people trusting their political empowerment as individuals working together with the community. We try to explain that, by increasing the voter turnout, there's going to be a pool of resources you can ask for, because you're going to have that political empowerment."

The valley is one of the nation's poorest regions. Many communities lack basic services such as paved streets and public lighting. One reason? Diaz says lawmakers don't tend to steer resources to areas where voter turnout is low.

Early voters can use any polling location in their home county through Nov. 2. Texas voting information is available at https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/voterws.

More details about the Equal Voice Network are at http://rgvequalvoicenetwork.blogspot.com/.




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Pennsylvania is among the states where massive protests and tent encampments opposing the war in Gaza are growing.

Elez Beresin-Scher, a sociology student at Bryn Mawr College, is at the Free Gaza encampment on campus. She explained there are about 44 tents full of students who have been sleeping there since Saturday night.

She spoke to Sonali Kolhatkar on the TV and radio show Yes! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali.

"We are here because our college has $5 million of its endowment invested in Israeli technology," Beresin-Scher pointed out. "We know that this money is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians; over 30,000 Palestinians have been murdered by the State of Israel."

Beresin-Scher added they are calling on the college and the university president's office to divest Israeli holdings and endorse a cease-fire resolution passed by 89% of the student body about a month ago. She added they will be at the encampment indefinitely until their two demands are met.

Pro-Israel groups argued the war is justified given the massacre perpetrated by Hamas, which kicked off the most recent violence. Beresin-Scher noted they are taking a significant risk but they believe genocide is occurring in Palestine and they want to see it end.

"We're recognizing that Palestinian students have been murdered, or are not able to continue their education because every university in Gaza has been bombed, has been destroyed," Beresin-Scher emphasized. "That's the perspective that we're coming from."

Beresin-Scher has been a member of Jewish Voice for Peace since her freshman year, and said it is upsetting to hear the encampments are being portrayed as anti-Semitic. She noted it is something she has never encountered as someone who has organized with Students for Justice in Palestine.

This story was produced based on original reporting by Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Media.

Massive protests and tent encampments opposing the war in Gaza are growing at universities across California, with classes canceled at the University of California-Los Angeles Wednesday, after tensions boiled over into violence there.

Police arrested 25 students at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Tuesday.

An organizer named Rithik from the Students for Gaza encampment at San Francisco State University recently spoke to Sonali Kolhatkar for her TV and radio show Yes! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali.

"Students everywhere are appalled at the current genocide occurring in Gaza that is being perpetrated by Israel and backed by the United States," Rithik stated. "We understand that our taxpayer money is not going towards our own education, but rather to fund this genocide and wars of aggression across the world."

At San Francisco State, students are demanding the California State University System divest any holdings in companies selling arms to Israel, assurances the student protesters will not be sanctioned by the school, and for the university president to make a statement opposing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and declaring the war a genocide.

Pro-Israel groups argued the war is justified given the massacre perpetrated by Hamas, which kicked off the most recent violence. They also worry Jewish students will feel intimidated on campus. However, a Jewish student named Jacob at San Francisco State said it has not been his experience.

"I don't think we've ever felt that any of the actions being taken in the name of anti-Zionism and anti-colonialism are antisemitic," Jacob asserted. "Never felt unsafe, never felt unwelcome in these spaces. Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism."

San Francisco State President Lynn Mahoney has emphasized the university's support for peaceful protest and said the university has already taken steps to divest.

This story was produced based on original reporting by Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes! Media.


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A new report showed turnover among California chief election officials reached 57% in 2022, a record high. It then declined this year to 40%.

Researchers at the University of California-Los Angeles partnered with the Bipartisan Policy Center to analyze the data from 18,000 jurisdictions nationwide.

Rachel Orey, senior associate director of the Elections Project for the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the jobs of election workers have become significantly harder in recent years.

"Today, election officials must manage everything from cybersecurity risks posed by foreign adversaries to people who are doubting the outcome of elections, to information technology, legal disputes, political pressures," Orey outlined.

The turnover rate is defined as the percentage of jurisdictions in a state where the chief local election official changed within the prior four years. It has been an issue in California for decades. The turnover rate stood at 41% back in 2004. But things got much worse after 2020, when election officials became targets of threats and harassment, often spurred by former President Donald Trump's evidence-free claims about a rigged election.

Orey noted she expects this year's presidential election to go smoothly, because dozens of states, including California, have done a lot to "beef up" the elections workforce.

"Sixty-five percent of local election officials have experience running a presidential election," Orey pointed out. "Where there are new officials, we find that they have an average of eight years of experience in an election office. So all in all, we see that election officials are well-prepared to administer the 2024 presidential election."

The report recommended better funding for elections offices, higher salaries and more training in order to attract and retain a highly skilled election workforce.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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