Groups push to register minorities to vote

Advocates had just extolled the virtues of voting as they launched a registration push to enroll black and Hispanic voters before the next election.

But volunteers Alexandra Sanjuan and Lina Córdoba were having difficulty going from ideal to reality at a Brentwood bus stop Thursday.

Person after person shook their heads, saying they weren't interested or weren't citizens.

While they left without any new registrants, exemplifying the roadblocks advocates might face, the volunteers said this was just the beginning of work toward a worthy goal.

"At least we are talking to them so they can think about the importance of becoming citizens and voting," said Sanjuan, a Westbury resident.

They are among dozens who promised to fan out through Brentwood, Central Islip, Bay Shore and other Suffolk County areas to register voters.

"We know that there are a lot of folks who aren't ready," said Daniel Altschuler, coordinator of the Long Island Civic Engagement Table that is bringing together various advocacy groups for the initiative. "We also know there are thousands upon thousands who are eligible to vote and the challenge for us is to identify them."

Among key issues on which those advocates would like to see elected officials become more responsive are calls to increase the minimum wage, to pass immigration reform that would help the undocumented, and to assist low-income families facing foreclosure.

Ruth Negrón-Gaines, of the Islip Town Branch of the NAACP, said her group will target young voters with a message of self-empowerment.

"The act of casting a ballot gets counted on Election Day as the nation's equalizer," Negrón-Gaines said.

She described voting as "one of the few instances in which our voice, opinions and the legacy we seek to leave future generations readily crosses the expansive divide that is race and class in this country."

Luis Valenzuela, of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, said much of what volunteers need to do is to fight apathy.

The Engagement Table estimates that up to 40,000 blacks and Latinos can be added to the Suffolk County voter rolls.

The group had managed to register 15 since Wednesday.