Latino Voting Issues Symposium

Event Description

A robust discussion of critical issues related to this year’s Hispanic vote will highlight a special Latino Voting Issues Symposium being produced by the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists in coordination with the Society for Professional Journalists and our academic partner, the University of the Incarnate Word.

The symposium will be from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, in UIW’s Seddon Recital Hall in the Bennack Music Center. The Music Center is in the front of UIW’s campus facing Broadway Street. The doors will open at 8:30 a.m. for registration and refreshments, with welcome remarks at 9:15 a.m.

The panelists for the symposium will include:

·         U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose district includes parts of San Antonio

·         Lydia Camarillo, who is vice president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project

·         State Rep. Diego Bernal of San Antonio

·         And Lionel Sosa, the noted Hispanic media and political consultant

Other panelists may be added before the event.

The panel will examine how the largest minority group in the United States is impacting American political parties and the 2016 presidential election. Every month, 66,000 U.S. Latinos turn 18 and become eligible to vote. Although their turnout during other elections has been panned as low and unable to make significant impact, Latino candidates, voters and operatives continue to organize throughout the country. In November’s presidential and congressional elections, their participation has been called key. How they turn out, which candidates will best connect with them, what issues will galvanize them and what organizations will organize to coax them to the polls are some of the major questions political experts are discussing as Republican and Democratic candidates press on toward Nov. 2.