Washington, D.C. – [NCLR President Raul Yzaguirre issued the following statement at a Leadership Conference on Civil Rights news conference urging an end to plans to challenge voters:]

For years, anti-immigrant organizations have tried to characterize immigrants, especially Hispanic immigrants, as “anti-American” and as people “who refuse to assimilate.” In a direct repudiation of this disinformation campaign, eligible Hispanics and immigrants have been registering to vote in record numbers throughout the country. It is estimated that at least a million more Latinos will vote on November 2 than voted in the 2000 election.

Yet, instead of welcoming this new energy into our nation’s democracy, anti-immigrant groups have issued broad statements calling into question the credibility of entire American communities. At best, these efforts spread fear and misinformation; at worst, they result in voter harassment. Their basis? That people with certain last names, of some ethnicities, or with an accent are registering to vote. There are now many examples in multiple states of voters being challenged as suspect based on one criterion: when they filled out their forms, they identified themselves as Hispanic.

In some cases, this outrageous abuse appears to be spearheaded by anti-immigrant groups, particularly the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as having close ties to hate groups. For example, the state director of FAIR in Michigan sent “testers” to try to register to vote at a Wisconsin Hispanic community-based organization (CBO) to “prove” that the CBO was registering non-eligible persons. Their effort was so unsuccessful that it prompted an investigation and a warning from the Milwaukee County District Attorney against future “testing” projects. In North Carolina, a press release by FAIR accusing immigrants of plotting to commit fraud led to a misguided attempt by a local sheriff to single out for harassment registrants who identified themselves as Latino.

Individuals in other states appear to be following suit. Today in Georgia, a number of Latinos will face a challenge to their voter registration, inspired by a single issue: they checked “Latino” on their voter registration form. Some of these individuals’ families have lived in this country for generations; it is a travesty that they should face this kind of intimidation.

NCLR is concerned about the effects of these and other efforts on the integrity of our electoral process. We are particularly alarmed at reports that political parties themselves are engaged in recruiting efforts to challenge voters on the basis of their citizenship. This raises the ugly possibility that those of us with brown skin or surnames like mine will be challenged even as we attempt to vote. This election season has provided far too many examples of how that fragile system can be tampered with – from selective access to the polls, arbitrary voter purges, speculative complaints of wrongdoing, and misinformation to prospective registrants. We are equally horrified by reports that some are inflating their voter registration numbers by misinforming the community about registration eligibility, as we are by attempts to indict entire communities because of their ethnic background. We are Americans; we believe in democracy. Some of us were born here, while others are Americans by choice and have worked hard and believe mightily in the power of American democracy. All of us, and all Americans, deserve better. All forms of fraud and intimidation must be stopped and prosecuted.

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