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Fronteras: 'Su Voto Es Su Voz'

A lawsuit against the Texas Secretary of State David Whitley was recently settled after his office released a list of 95,000 voters accused of being non-citizens. Latino voters who were on the list and several civil rights organizations filed the suit, including the Southwest Voter Registration Project.

Lydia Camarillo, president of SVREP, says the organization was founded on the belief, “su voto es su voz.”

Credit Courtesy of SVREP
Under Lydia Camarillo's leadership, the Latino participation in the democratic process has almost tripled, from 5.4 million Latinos registered to vote in 1994 to 14.3 million today.

On Jan. 25, Whitley’s office released the list of suspected non-citizen registered voters and advised county registrars to purge them from the voter rolls. Weeks later, the office retracted 25,000 individuals named on the list after admitting they were, in fact, U.S. citizens. Those who were flagged by the Secretary’s office joined several organizations, including MALDEF, LULAC, and the League of Women Voters of Texas, in filing the suit, which was settled on April 29.

SVREP was founded in 1974 by San Antonio native Willie Velásquez and other Mexican American political activists to encourage Mexican Americans in the Southwest to vote. Since then, SVREP has grown into the largest and oldest nonpartisan Latino voter participation organization in the country. Because of its efforts, Latino voter participation has nearly tripled, from 5.4 million in 1994 to 14.3 million today.

Camarillo succeeded SVREP’s long-time president, Antonio Gonzalez, in November 2018 after he died of cancer. She shared her thoughts on the controversial voter purge effort and reflected on the milestones SVREP has achieved in its 45-year long history.

For information on how to register to vote, visit VoteTexas.gov.

IF YOU GO WHAT: Willie Velásquez Benefit Dinner WHERE: Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Brooks Hotel & Spa, 7610 South New Braunfels, San Antonio, Texas 78235 WHEN: Friday, May 24, at 6:00 p.m. COST: To reserve table/ticket(s) contact SVREP at vguillen@svrep.org

Norma Martinez can be reached at norma@tpr.org and on Twitter @NormDog1 and Lauren Terrazas can be reached at lauren@tpr.org and on Twitter @terrazas_lauren.

Norma Martinez can be reached at norma@tpr.org and on Twitter at @NormDog1
Lauren Terrazas can be reached at lauren@tpr.org and on Twitter at @terrazas_lauren