Groups start Nassau voter registration campaign

Several advocacy groups in Nassau County are joining forces to reach out to potential voters from minority groups in Nassau County and register them to vote before the upcoming elections.

They are joining a nonpartisan statewide campaign targeting black and Hispanic voters before an Oct. 12 deadline to register, said Osman Canales, community organizer in Hempstead with La Fuente, an umbrella group for advocacy organizations in minority communities.

The goal is to register at least 1,000 voters mostly from the Hempstead, Uniondale, Freeport and Roosevelt communities, where many blacks and Latinos live.

“We want these communities to be prepared for Election Day,” Canales said. “There are many issues that affect us like education, immigration, lack of medical insurance and the need for better jobs.”

The effort also will include volunteers from the Nassau County chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, STRONG Youth Inc., the League of Women Voters of Nassau County, Every Child Matters and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock.

Volunteers will be attending community events and going door-to-door in those communities.