Armed with clipboard and pens, 25 young adults left the cramped Arizona Coalition for Empowerment office Friday afternoon hunting for non-voters in Hispanic neighborhoods.
They know every new voter they sign up has the possibility of shifting the political balance in the November election. They are running out of time. Arizona's voter registration deadline is Monday.
One Arizona coalition, composed of many smaller community action groups, claims to have registered nearly 140,000 people across the state. The coalition says it is the largest new voter drive in Arizona history.
Some of the political workers say the issues dominating the presidential race are also profoundly personal to them. They know people who are undocumented immigrants and have relatives living on both sides of the border.
Jose Soria, an immigrant with legal status under the DACA program, said he wants to change the political landscape ”so families don't have to feel scared to be deported or separated."
Mi Familia Vota workers spent Friday afternoon in Phoenix outside the federal courthouse. They were registering new U.S. citizens just minutes after their oath ceremony.
"That means we have a voice, and we get to vote," said Mexican native Adriana Najera. "We have to be involved in the decisions of this country because we live here and we are part of it."
