New voters in Colorado

These apartments are a sprawling public housing project in a working class suburb of Denver. A large number of Latinos live here. this activist is going door to door to register voters; the deadline for registration of new voters is one week from today. this woman says she can’t legally vote so the activist encourages her to apply for American citizenship. Down the hall she has better luck. This couple have a newborn son. They’ve never voted before. The father has no health insurance after recently losing his job and he realizes every vote counts. That’s especially true in Colorado where the race is close and Latinos may be the deciding factor. Traditionally Latinos side with Democrats in presidential elections, but in 2000 and 2004, Latinos�who make up 20% of the population in Colorado�voted for President Bush. No one is taking that fact for granted though. McCain’s office in Denver seems worlds away from the housing projects, but this McCain office organizer says his office is targeting the Latino vote. The Obama campaign is hitting malls and supermarkets here as the registration deadline looms. The challenge for both political parties is that less than 50% of Latinos in Colorado are eligible to vote. But this analyst says that’s changing and Latinos are mobilizing to thwart anti-immigrant legislation on the part of Colorado politicians. back the apartments in the housing project, the activist says the Latino community must have a voice in Washington. Her initiative is trying to register 5,000 Latino voters by the deadline, and the activist says they’ll easily exceed that.