GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Tuesday was National Voter Registration Day and in honor of it the Hispanic Center created a hotline for Spanish speakers to call and have all of their election and voting questions answered.
“We understand that the registration and confirming your registration, all that jazz around the election, is complicated,” said Holly Rae Clarkson with the Hispanic Center of West Michigan. “Even for English speakers and English readers it can be complicated and you can get lost. So, we found it was really important to really focus on language accessibility and to just simplify the process.”
Clarkson is the language and workplace development manager at the Hispanic Center. She said the hotlines — (616) 246-0568 and (616) 246-0562 — opened Tuesday morning, and will be available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“If they would prefer to come in we’re also seeing people in person today and in the future, or we can set up appointments. If they want to call we can set up appointments that way as well” Clarkson said. “So, essentially we just try to assess kind of are you registered? Do you have a plan? So we can walk you through each process and each step by step.”
Also, it’s not automated, she said. Callers can speak directly to two of their coordinators and ask any question, no matter their dialect.
She said their going to host other events between now and Election Day to help Latino and Spanish-speaking voters be as informed as possible, like Q&As with the candidates. The goal is to make sure voters are informed as possible before heading out to vote.
“We’ve seen especially in the last few years of the pandemic and just kind of the political landscape in our country and in our state just how a lot of times the Hispanic voice is left out. But they’re one of the first ones to be impacted, mostly in a negative way,” Clarkson said. “So, hopefully in a positive way, it’s important for us to really reiterate that this is your chance to voice your opinion and to really make your voice matter.”
