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Los Angeles, California—This Tuesday, June 6, 2006 the NALEO Educational Fund will stand ready to ensure that registered Latino voters have the information they will need to cast their ballots and will help ensure that polling places are accessible for them to do so.

The NALEO Educational Fund will be providing voters with vital information on every aspect of the voting process, from finding their polling place on Election Day to casting
a provisional ballot, through a toll-free bilingual hotline 1-888-VE- Y-VOTA (GO VOTE), available to voters statewide. The hotline will also be assisting voters who encounter problems at their polling place. Since 2004, the hotline has assisted more than 7,000 Latino voters in California. This year, it will again serve as a vital source of information for every aspect of the electoral
process.

In the field, the NALEO Educational Fund has also helped coordinate poll monitoring activities through community partners in the city of Los Angeles, and the county of Orange. In Los Angeles the organization will be working with the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) to monitor more than 20 polling places in the city’s Pico-Union neighborhood. In Orange County, similar efforts have been coordinated with Latino Health Access in the city of Santa Ana, which will be monitoring 60 polling sites. Trained monitors will visit polling places to ensure that: polling places open on time; voters with limited-English proficiency have access to materials and poll workers in their primary language, as required by section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act; and ensure that no eligible voter is denied his or her right to cast a ballot.

“As one of the fastest growing electorates in the state and across the nation, Latino voters continue to struggle with the lack of access to timely and accurate information,” said Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the NALEO Educational Fund. “Our efforts will ensure that lack of information is not a barrier for the millions of Latino registered voters ready to make a difference this Tuesday, June 6th. We have been working across the state to mobilize more than 70,000 Latino registered voters, now it’s time to make sure they are able to cast their ballots on Election Day.”

Tuesday, poll monitors will visit poll sites from the time they open at 7:00 a.m. until closing at 8:00 p.m. Trained bilingual hotline operators will also be on hand to assist callers on Election Day, beginning at 6:00 a.m. and until 10:00 p.m.