With the Nov. 7 general election right around the corner, a workers advocacy group focused on the Latinx community is trying to expand voter education beyond its own community.
TheLabor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) Greater Lansing chapter hosts voter registration drives, raises money for Latinx student scholarships and distributes care packages to migrant workers in the state.
WKAR's Megan Schellong speaks with Maria Starr Van Core, the president of the capital area chapter, about how the group is mobilizing voters.
Interview Highlights
On the issues the Latinx community is concerned about ahead of the November election
The majority that I've heard from the Latino community is the driver's licenses. I know especially for a lot of migrant workers to come into our state to work, they're not allowed to drive. Even though they do because you got to buy groceries, or you got to buy medicine or whatever. But they are in fear all the time. So, we want for the state to give them a temporary license like permission for them to be on Michigan roads.
On the difficulty the council faces in getting voters to the polls
We get very frustrated because we register people to vote. But the problem is, some of them register and they still don't go vote. And we believe that that's part of the problem, too. Maybe they're afraid, never know what to expect.
The language barrier. I know we have our members that speak Spanish we have translated for other members. We have had a form explanation of a candidate. Why they're running, we translate that. People are asking questions, so they don't understand exactly.
On how the council mobilizes voters
We always group up with students. We have a lot of students that work with us that help us, but we don't throw them out by themselves. We always have an adult or two with them. And they ask questions, "why are we doing this?" And we tell them it's part of education. That way, you know what's going on with the community. That way you can decide who's going to work for you better, you know? Who's going to meet your goals for the city. So, that's the good thing about it.
Interview Transcript
Megan Schellong: With the November general election right around the corner, a workers advocacy group focused on the Latinx community is trying to expand voter education beyond its own community.
The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), Lansing chapter hosts voter registration drives, raises money for Latinx student scholarships and distributes care packages to migrant workers in the state.
Maria Starr Van Core is president of the organization and joins us now to discuss how the group is mobilizing voters.
Maria, thanks for being here.
Starr Van Core: Thank you for having me. I'm really happy to be here.
Schellong: Well, thanks for joining us. Tell us, what are you hearing from folks in the community about issues they're most concerned about ahead of the election?
Starr Van Core: The majority that I've heard from the Latino community is the driver's licenses. I know especially for a lot of migrant workers to come into our state to work, they're not allowed to drive. Even though they do because you got to buy groceries, or you got to buy medicine or whatever. But they are in fear all the time. So, we want for the state to give them a temporary license like permission for them to be on Michigan roads. And that's very concerning, because all of these families, they're here to work and not to do bad things or crime or anything like that. They just want to have a comfortable life.
Schellong: So, theDrive Safe bills are definitely a priority. How is the labor council planning to mobilize voters around this issue? Are you going door-to-door? Texting, calling? What does that kind of look like?
Starr Van Core: Well, we've done them both. Texting, calling and door-to-door.
When we go door-to-door, we're dropping literature. We're a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. So, all the literature that we drop pertains of what's going on of important issues in the community.
That's what we do. The texting was great. The majority of my members, they love the texting because it's a lot easier. And there's some they still like to go door-to-door.
We always group up with students. We have a lot of students that work with us that help us, but we don't throw them out by themselves. We always have an adult or two with them. And they ask questions, "why are we doing this?" And we tell them it's part of education. That way, you know what's going on with the community. That way you can decide who's going to work for you better, you know? Who's going to meet your goals for the city. So, that's the good thing about it.
Schellong: So, there's young folks involved and a bit more seasoned folks who have been mobilizing voters for a good number of years. Can you tell us a little bit more about other groups are you working with or collaborating with to mobilize voters?
Starr Van Core: We partner a lot since our organization, we say LCLAA for short. Our organization is under the Michigan [and] national AFL CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations). And we are the grassroots. So, we try to educate anybody, we don't just educate Latinos, we educate everybody that needs or wants to know more.
Schellong: Being a grassroots organization, what barriers and challenges does the council face in getting voters to the polls?
Starr Van Core: Oh, we get very frustrated because we register people to vote. But the problem is, some of them register and they still don't go vote. And we believe that that's part of the problem, too. Maybe they're afraid, never know what to expect.
The language barrier. I know we have our members that speak Spanish we have translated for other members. We have had a form explanation of a candidate. Why they're running, we translate that. People are asking questions, so they don't understand exactly. We try to explain to them in simpler terms in Spanish so they can understand because even myself, like I said, I'm not educated from schooling, you know? I'm an American citizen. I was born here in the United States. There's a big difference of the language.
Schellong: That's Maria Starr Van Core, president of The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, (LCLAA) Lansing chapter. She joined us today to discuss the difficulties facing mobilization of Latinx voters and the current work the council is doing. Maria, thanks for your time.
Starr Van-Core: Thank you so much. I'm happy to help out and talk to everybody.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.