Local groups mobilize to support immigrant access to the polls
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Minnesota’s primary election is set for Aug. 13 and voting has already started. Voters will choose candidates for the November general election in various races, including the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state legislative seats, and nonpartisan local positions.
Key races include the Democratic primary for the Fifth Congressional District, featuring a rematch between Representative Ilhan Omar and former Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels, and the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, where former NBA player Royce White and businessman Joe Fraser are competing to challenge incumbent Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Some local organizations are working to ensure voters in Latino, Somali, African diaspora and Hmong communities have the information and support they need to register to vote in the upcoming primary election.
Organizing Director with COPAL Ryan Perez says some of their voter engagement efforts include creating a hub for voter information, conducting bilingual phone banking and door canvassing programs, and producing videos to reach the Latine (a gender-neutral term COPAL prefers to use) community in Minnesota.
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“When we meet people where they’re at and address that life in Minnesota, life in the United States is not perfect. But we have visions, and we have dreams of what a dignified life will look like, then we can motivate people and explain how voting and not just voting, but civic participation can be a vehicle for that,” Perez said.
Ayada Leads is doing similar work. The Minneapolis-based nonprofit helps women with roots in the African diaspora excel in leadership positions in their communities.
Fadumo Mohamed helps lead Ayada’s civic engagement efforts and says the organization has been using Instagram, LinkedIn and other social media platforms to raise awareness on when the primaries are happening, what a primary is, what a general election is, who is on the ballot and where they can go vote.
Mohamed says their team has also gone door-knocking in Somali communities to let voters know they can request voting instructions in their language. She says the efforts ensure voters in the Somali community don’t feel silenced.
“If we don’t ensure that folks understand what they’re reading and understand who they’re voting for, and understand what the people they elect will be responsible for, whether it be at the state legislature or at city council level, we are inherently disempowering those community members,” Mohamed said. “And even beyond language accessibility, physical accessibility, making sure folks whether they walk or roll, can enter a voting space.”
St. Paul city councilmember Nelsie Yang is Hmong-American and represents Ward 6. Yang says organizations like Hmong American Partnership and Asian American Organizing Project engage voters in the Hmong community through door knocking, phone banking and cultural events.
Yang says voter education in the Hmong community helps voters understand they have power to change policies and make a difference in their communities.
“Our Hmong people, we have gone through so much, during the Secret War, and many of our veterans are so engaged in electoral work because they fought so hard for us to be able to come to the U.S., to fight for freedom, to make sure we have education and have a better life overall,” Yang said.
Only U.S. citizens can register and vote in Minnesota, which includes local elections such as city, town or school district elections. Voters must also be at least 18 years old on Election Day, a resident of Minnesota for 20 days, not currently incarcerated for a felony conviction and not under a court order that revokes the right to vote. Green card holders are not eligible. Voters gaining citizenship have to wait until after the naturalization ceremony to register.
As of 2022, there were about 481,700 immigrants living in Minnesota, according to the American Immigration Council. The top countries of origin for immigrants in the state include Mexico, Somalia, India, Ethiopia and Laos.
Correction (Aug. 13, 2024): A previous version of this story misstated the availability of ballots in Somali language. The story has been updated with the correct information.
