How first time Latine voters are shaping local elections
In the weeks before the Nov. 5 elections, Eliana Rodriguez knocked on one door after another in her South Los Angeles neighborhood of Vermont Knolls, registering her neighbors to vote and letting them know what is at stake. While so much of the conversation has been around the presidential election, she said, there are ballot measures and propositions that directly affect their community. Rodriguez, 19, tried to rally support for Measure A — a sales tax to assist the unhoused population — and to encourage her neighbors to vote against Proposition 36 , which would increase punishment for certain drug or theft crimes. But mostly, she wanted to encourage them to vote. As a first-time voter, she, too, found the process a “bit nerve-wracking.” “When I looked at my ballot, I didn’t realize there’s so much to learn,” she said. “I was confused about certain propositions — it’s a little stressful because a lot is going on.” As she searched for answers, she turned to her mother, studied material online and leaned on Community Coalition, a South L.A.-based nonprofit organization that Rodriguez has been a
