Courtney Luciana photo
Mariam Aldarondo registers to vote with President of Ice The Beef Latino Caucus Manuel Camacho.
The day after the presidential debate, Mariam Aldarondo ran up to a voter registration table set up at 248 Grand Ave.
“I wanted to make sure to register today so that I could pick a different president,” Aldarondo told the organizers from, Ice The Beef’s Latino Caucus and the Young Communist League (YCL).
Thirteen other people joined in registering to vote or updating their address in order to receive their absentee ballot Wednesday during the sign-up event.
Marcey Jones (pictured), Ward 30 Democratic committee co-chair and Ice The Beef Executive secretary, said that the Latino vote has always been a crucial factor but now is even more so after Trump told white supremacists to stand by on Tuesday night.
“If Trump gets another four years, everybody is going down. The Proud Boys decided that they’re going to take what Trump said and use it. They heard the president give them an order to stand by and wait,” Jones said. “I’m working with Black Lives Matter, Ice Da Beef, Citywide Youth Coalition, and 17 organizations in total that are trying to bring peace to this neighborhood. So we have to remember that we’re strong.”
Ana González (at left in photo), who works at Albertus Magnus College, was already registered. She expressed her appreciation to residents who signed up.
“First of all, as U.S. citizens, it is our civic right to vote. Before us, there were so many brothers and sisters who sacrificed their lives to guarantee the right to vote,” González said. “Voting isn’t just something to do. Voting means taking a stand on what happens in our cities. What happens in our schools. What happens to our future. It is imperative that Latinos and our brothers and sisters of color get out to vote.”
Marta Lopez (pictured on the right), mother of three, shared that her past in jail and getting into trouble has made her want to fight for the country’s future. She said that it’s important for members of her community to vote so that the cycle of urban poverty and lack of resources can be fixed.
“It’s hard. I got an apartment a year ago. I was homeless. Good and dandy. Now I don’t have money and I can’t get a job because of my record,” Lopez said. “Voting is important for the sake of my kids because we are in an urban city and we get left out.”
Jones designed masks and T‑shirts printed with the flag of Puerto Rico. They were spread across the voting registration table.
Ice The Beef Latino Caucus President Manuel Camacho proudly greeted passing Latino neighbors while trading his black mask in for a Puerto Rican designed one. Camacho called it a misconception that many citizens in minority-majority areas like Fair Haven don’t care about the election.
“There’s no better place to be in than right here in the heart of Fair Haven and letting all of the Hispanics and different types of people know that they can vote this year,” Camacho said. “With the 2020 Presidential Election and with last night’s debate, this is a really highly anticipated election. The stakes are high and there’s a lot at risk. Another four years of this administration could be detrimental to the entire nation.”
Kassandra Martel, vice-president of Ice The Beef Latino Caucus, said she is the first American citizen in her family. With most of her family being undocumented, she said, the outcome of the 2020 election is especially important to her. Adding fuel to the fire, Martel will not be of legal age to vote until only a couple of days after the election.
“We want the youth to use their voice. We’re the next generation. Our voice is really powerful so we want this to happen. We want to have good lives and we want things to change,” Martel said. “We’re here sitting behind our parents’ shadows because we’re not old enough to vote. But we still have our voices to convince people who to vote for.”
Chaz Carmon (middle) with members of the Ice The Beef’s Latino Caucus.
Towards the end of the registration, Ice the Beef President Chaz Carmon appeared with two youth members.
“We tend to think that our voice doesn’t matter, so why should I vote if it’s not going to matter anyways?,” Carmon said. “Which is a misconception. It does matter, and your vote does count. You should be out here fighting for your community, fighting for what you believe in, and making changes in your community.”
Residents can register to vote with Ice The Beef and YCL on Oct. 7 at 222 Grand Ave. and Oct. 12 at 255 Blatchley Ave.