SEATTLE VOTES 2016 SURVEY RESULTS LATINO COMMUNITY About Votes

In 2015, the Seattle Immigrant Voting Rights Task Force released a report with recommendations for city and regional governments. One of the recommendations was to collect better quality data about immigrant and refugee voters. In response, the City of Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs undertook a community-based approach to research.

The result was the Seattle Votes Survey. This paper and electronic formatted survey was a research tool to help the City understand barriers to civic engagement (e.g., naturalization, voter registration, and voting) for immigrant and refugee residents. It was originally offered in 10 languages: Amharic, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, English, Korean, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tigrinya, and Vietnamese. Later, paper surveys in Filipino/ Tagalog, Indonesian, and Khmer/Cambodian were available thanks to community support. In 2016, the City worked with more than 100 partner organizations to gather responses from 5,566 immigrant and refugee res- idents on civic engagement, the first such dataset for any city in the U.S. and one of the largest in the country.

We have consolidated the results from respondents who identified themselves as being born in a Latin American country, (which for the purposes of this report includes the country of Mexico and the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking regions of Central and South America and the Caribbean). This report presents several highlights from the data, as well as recommendations to help increase civic engagement in this community.

You can see the original English-version of the Seattle Votes Survey at: www.bit.ly/SV_English.

You can see the translated versions of the Seattle Votes Survey at: www.seattle.gov/SeattleVotes. 3 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - 2016 RESULTS as Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, and Nicaragua. Further, the lack of economic opportunities in Mexico in ensured asteadystream ofimmigrantsopportunities from Mexico,eitherdirectly, orviaelsewhere intheU.S. economic of lack the Further, Nicaragua. and Chile, Salvador, El Guatemala, as such countries from came immigrants new These Seattle. in settlement Latino non-Mexican in influx an Beacon HillSchool. organization service social and community El Centro de on Beacon Hill after the more than three-month-long occupation ofthe abandoned the created activists other and Maestas 1972, Roberto in educator and (MEChA), Aztlan de Estudiantil Movimiento established Washington of University the at students Latino 1968, In Seattle. to spread also U.S. the in community Latino the in activism ment, Move Rights Civil the of part As itself. Mexico from mostly were immigrants Latino the now Southwest, in changes to led Latino immigration to which Washington state. Whereas they had previously been primarily Latinos from the quotas, racial eliminated Act Nationality and Immigration 1965 The economy. of these rural Latino families moved to the Puget Sound region in search ofjobsin the booming post-war in theYakima Valley inCentral Washington aswelltheSkagitValley inWestern Washington. these for need workers increased during World War II,and more guest workers cameand settled The in Washington, primarily program.“bracero” or worker guest special a through U.S. the into brought workers Washington State. Many of these were from the Southwest, but also included migrant to migrants Spanish-speaking of influx major first the to led 1930s, the in projects construction and tion ceded to theUnitedStatesin1819. were Spain by Northwest Pacific the in permanent claims territorial few but A Mexicans, bySound. established Puget were become settlements would what into and coast west the up sailing labor, Mexican by supported expeditions, Spanish with States, United the of founding the before well to back date west America, as well as the Caribbean, the largest group are those from Mexico. Mexicans in the Pacific North andWashington inSeattle Latinos Increased political instability in Central and South America, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, led to led 1980s, and 1970s the in especially America, South and Central in instability political Increased Following World War II, while most of the workers that had come on guest visas returned to Mexico, The need for agricultural labor in Central and Eastern Washington, as well as large government reclama While the Latino in community the Seattle area is made upofpeoples from all over Central and South many - - - 4 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - 2016 RESULTS LATINO COMMUNITY Source: US Census, 2012-2016 American Community Survey, Table forForeign B05006: Born Population Place ofBirth in the United States. % Latino LATINOS INTHESEATTLE BY REGION CENSUSTRACTS (%OFTOTAL POPULATION) Source: US Census, 2012-2016 American Community Survey, Table forForeign B05006: Born Population Place ofBirth in the UnitedStates. OFBIRTHPLACE FORFOREIGNBORNPOPULATIONS: 2012-2016 At-a-Glance GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR MEXICO 30%+ 20-30% 10-20% 0-10% 679 1,157 8,377 SEATTLE FEDERAL WAY SEATTLE SHORELINE TUKWILA AUBURN KENT 4,655 4,489 52,542 KING COUNTY BELLEVUE KIRKLAND RENTON 10,958 10,579 234,345 WASHINGTON 5 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - 2016 RESULTS LATINO COMMUNITY was aprogram to care forseniors.Basically, you Washington School ofSocialWork. Backthen,there El Centro de laRaza. and YMCA the from help got we But $20. and card mom brought us to Seattle.We had a Conoco gas 1991, after a year of trying to find work in Texas, my us over without one. We crossed the Rio Grande. In visa. It wasn’t coming fast enough, so she brought and lived with my godmother. She applied to get a behind stayed I so first, Texas to came She nizer. orga union a and mom single a was mom My ico. What isyour migration story? at Phinney Cooperativa Preescolar enEspañol Parent Educator Instructor, SeattleCollege North Interview withTania Hino After a while, my mom got into the University of of University the into got mom my while, a After I was born in Mex in born was I - - we had to go back to Mexico for another interview.another for Mexico to back go to had we months, few a After us. for letter a write Murraydid Sen. that thrilled were We officials. elected our to porary visa for three months in order to reach out and requestThey aletterofsupport. gave usatem Murray,Patty Sen. letter,U.S. a to her go towrite us bordertold the country.toleaveat the supervisor A had goodgrades, nocriminalrecord. But, wehad my last year in high school. They denied us. We three years duringhighschool. It was notso easy. to two for Disease Alzheimer’s had who woman a with lived We covered. housing get you exchange, helped anelderlypersonlive independentlyand,in out whatwas it about. benefited from it. After that, I called people to figure what thatwasabout.Iknow somanypeoplethat tive action. Iwishthere wasmore informationabout affirma against voted I tricky.think so I was guage lan The programs). action affirmative government wasn’t the caseforother people. to who vote for, becauseIwaseagerandread alot. That out figuring time hard a have didn’t I U.S. was going to make change. credible! Ifelt like I was helping elect someone who voted? you time first the like it was What systems that create barriersto participation. problem. Ifwegetorganized, wecanchangethe But itisalittlebitofchickensurviving. andegg people don’t thinkimmigrants care, butthey are just they aren’t thinking about improving systems. Other count. Whenpeopleare justfocusingonsurvival, cannot ignore whatisgoingon. happens. We have to get involved in politics. We I really like to get involved. If we stay quiet, nothing Mexicans. for now,particularly right best the not is united thanever. Justbecausetheadministration you? inourdemocracy meanto What doesparticipating came acitizen! be I years, five another after And 18. was I when it got finally I card! green our for us approved They We got called for our immigration in interviews I remember I-200 (which ended state and local the in ghost wasn’t a I like felt I time, first the For We needto educatepeoplesothattheirvoices Right now, it is really hard. We have to be more

Itwasin - - - - - 6 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - 2016 RESULTS LATINO COMMUNITY SeaTac/Tukwila/Burien Most are residents in these three ZIP codes: Highline College (9%) de Mujeres Latinas (15%), or either Sea Mar (16%), Symposio of respondents were referred by school diplomaorGED have no more than a high of respondents are women King County. The followingare additional characteristics of the respondents: 65% of the Latino respondents were for Seattle and born in Mexico, which is roughly the sameproportion Almost 800 Latinos completed the SeattleVotes Survey. This survey was not arandom sample. However, About the Respondents VotesSeattle Survey rent their homes White Center/Burien language primary speak Spanish as a than $41,000 annually of households earnless Central District/Beacon Hill “not well” or “not at all” speak Englisheither are in their 30s and40s 1990s and 2000s arrived intheUS the 7 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - FINDINGS LATINO COMMUNITY feel taking actioncan help solve problems in their respective communities. difference in improving their neighborhood. This is a hopeful signthatLatinos in Seattle A majority(58%) of those surveyed (750) thought that they couldmake abig or moderate 2. MostLatinos queried feel asense ofagency. immigration system and focused on establishing themselves in anew country. (6%). Taken asawhole,thesepreferences indicate a community struggling with a broken and discrimination(8%). Surprisingly, affordable housing was onlycited by 48 respondents tion/obtaining citizenship most often (12%). Closebehindwere education(9%), jobs(8%), When asked to prioritize policy issues, respondentsup to chose immigra three important 1. Immigration andapathway to citizenship are top policyconcerns. Findings you think ourpublic officials shouldaddress? issue facing your immigrant(Q7) What is the most important and refugee communitythat hood a better place to live? neighbor your making in have can you think you do difference a of much Overall,how (Q8) Big Difference 35% Affordable Housing Discrimination/Social Justice Jobs/Job Search/More JobsAvailable Education/General Educational Resources Immigration/Obtaining Citizenship Difference Moderate 23% 29% Difference Small ence Differ No 13% - - - 8 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - FINDINGS LATINO COMMUNITY cating. of linguisticbackgrounds, someofwhomdependmore heavily onoral traditions ofcommuni range wide a from come who Americans, Asian and Africans East “somewhat tocontrast in is This or easy”. easy” “very either it finding 74% with elections, about information accessible linguistically attaining difficulty significant have not did margin, wide a by respondents, Latino language. 4. Respondents caneasily access informationabout elections intheir preferred most impactful way to communicate to theregion’s Latino community. receive electronic information and connect with friends and family, and television as the organizations (24%). These data suggest the combination of cellphone,bothto send/ third ataboutathird of those surveyed, followed by social networks (30%) andcommunity from the internet (59%) and“Ethnic television” (52%). “Television in English” was a distant A majorityofrespondents got their information about elections,issues,andcandidates information onpolitics. 3. The internet andtelevision (both ethnic andEnglish) are the top sources of Newspapers inEnglish Radio inEnglish Ethnic newspapers Ethnic radio provider(s)Service My community organizations(s)/ Friends andfamily Television inEnglish Ethnic Television Internet the following would you mostlikely use? (Q10) If you wanted to findinformationabout elections, issues, and candidates,which of Library language? preferred your in candidates and elections about information find to it is easy How (Q11) Very Easy 43% Easy Somewhat 31% (16%) (17%) (17%) (20%) (23%) (24%) (30%) (35%) 23% Difficult (52%) (59%) any found not I have 4%

- 9 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - FINDINGS LATINO COMMUNITY quarter of respondents were notinterested,quarter a moderately high level ofapathy. to do it(42%) or could not find information in their preferred language(14%). However,a More thanhalfofthoseeligible but not registered statedeither they did not know how 6. Lack ofinformationisasignificantbarrier to voter registration. strations, protests, marches, or rallies. prioritization of education. Additionally, more than 20% took direct actionthrough demon common (28%) civic engagementactivity for the respondents. This trend matches up with Attending PTA volunteering meetingsoratachild’sotherwise school was themost 5. Engaging inachild’s focusforcivicengagement. educationisaprimary Choose all that apply. (Q12) Please tell usifyou have done any of the followingactivitiesin past 2 years. is the main reason you have not registered to vote? what registeredvote,to yet not but 18), of age the overcitizen (U.S. eligible areyou if (Q14) people to vote I volunteered foran election activity such as a phone bank or registering I contacted apublic official through aletter, email, phone, or in-person I have given money to an organization or candidate political issue I sent amessageonFacebook or other social media about a social or I have worked onaproject or attended a meeting in my neighborhood I have signed a letter about a social or political issue I attended agovernment or school board meeting in my city in oneor more demonstrations,I participated protests, marches, or rallies I attended aPTA meeting,orother volunteer group at my child’s school Voting is awasteoftime/it doesn’t make a difference I am not interested in voting I am too busy Voter registration information is not available in my preferred language I am not interested in voting I don’t knowhow/where to register/it’s too complicated 13% 14% 25% 42% 15% 16% 17% 19% 22% 28% 13% 13% 3% 4% 7% - 10 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - FINDINGS LATINO COMMUNITY vast majority ofrespondents (85%) did not respond to this question. may be a hopeful signthatthe electoral system is engaging Latino voters. However, the Fifty-three percent of thosesurveyed recall beingcontactedandencouraged to vote. This organization. 8. Asmallmajoritysay they have been contactedby acandidate, party, orother among people of color,particularly inoddyear elections for municipal races. while 70% said “rarely” or “never”. This seems generally consistentwithlower turnout, Only 30% stated that they vote in state and local elections either “often” or “sometimes”, 7. Two-thirds state they never vote instate andlocalelections. or other organization? party,political candidate, a encouragedbyvote toand contacted everbeen Haveyou (Q19) (Q18) How often have you voted in state andlocalelections? D. Never C. Rarely B. Sometimes A. Often I DON’T REMEMBER I DON’T NO. YES! 5% 66% 10% 20% 4% 11 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - RECOMMENDATIONS LATINO COMMUNITY to vote whonaturalized from city-funded programs. with support with immigrant andrefugee organizationsparties serving andproactively register people barriers and a distrustofgovernment. the City of Seattle should co-host ballot For its part, is needed to overcome should be lauded, moreties. support linguistic Though thiseffort munity-based organizations to in underrepresented promote voter communi participation to providedation and King County Elections partnered about $700,000 in grants to com renew their driver’s licensesor apply forpublic assistance. More recently, the Seattle Foun agencies are required to offer voter registration when individuals apply foror opportunities decades. With the passage of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, government The role of government in promoting voter registration hasincreased over the past three to promote3. Expand partnerships civicengagement. local elections. as 66% of respondentscould increase stated they voter “never” participation, vote instate/ engaging videos thatare translated effort short, into multiple languages. Sucha concerted City services. The formatshould be available inphysicalanddigital formats, ideallyin charter, who are current Cityofficials andhow they are elected,andwho to call regarding local government within oursystemoffederalism. This could include the basics of the City edge. The City should invest in basic adult civics education that focuses onthe role of works. However, there are few resources in Seattle that provide such foundational knowl Increased civic engagement is predicated on a solid understandingofhowgovernment aboutrole2. Promote oflocalgovernment. civiceducation,particularly city, state,andfederal legislative districts in 2021. the lastCensus),andless political representation as district boundarieswillbe drawn for fewer federal resources (an estimated $12,000 perperson decade in Washington for rates by Lower participation immigrants andrefugees participation. in Seattle mean both such a move, on top of the ongoinganti-immigrant rhetoric, may create achillingeffect on requested the Census Bureau believe to addaquestion on that citizenship status. Experts as the long-term director abruptly resigned inmid-2017. Recently, the Justice Department tions onrace/ethnicity. Under the new administration, the Census seemsto be in disarray, online data collection processes, adrastic cutin door-to-door enumerators, andnew ques due to significant budgetcutsapproved by Congress. This included a heavy emphasis on before the 2016 elections,theU.S.Census Bureau was planning formajorchanges, largely The CityofSeattleshould play an aggressive role in promoting afullcensus count. Even 1. Launch aSeattle-based fullcensus count campaign. Recommendations - - - - - 12 SEATTLE VOTES SURVEY - RECOMMENDATIONS LATINO COMMUNITY ise in increasing voter participation andare of a deeper dive.ise inincreasing therefore voter participation worthy districts? These are reforms that other municipalities have implemented, whichshowprom with nomunicipalprimaries?Ifthere were multi-member districtsinsteadof single-member municipal elections were moved to even-numbered years? If there were ranked-choice voting agenda. For instance,how would turnoutchange in immigrant andrefugee communities if In addition,theCityofSeattleshould also add other prospective reforms to such a re both quantitative and qualitative analyses. immigrant and refugee communities,the City should commission research that includes to contribute to municipal campaigns. To understandthe impact ofelectoral reforms on ers, a public financed campaign system that provides each registered voter with $100 with all at-large seats. Further, the Cityis now thefirstjurisdiction withDemocracy Vouch fore theimplementationof the hybridat-large/district system, Seattle was the largest city Elections inthe City of Seattle have recently undergone a significant transformation. Be 5. Research impactofelectoral reforms that promote more engagement. culturally appropriate. and grants. Special attention should be paid to formats that are cell phone friendly and encourage more video-based content development through trainings, technical assistance, internet (59%) and ethnic television (52%). To build uponthese practices, the City should survey revealed that a majority of respondents foundinformationonpublic affairs from the The CityofSeattleshould continue to invest inthe development of ethnicmedia. The the development ofmore4. Support digitalcontentforpublic affairs. and highlight future needs. to communicate past accomplishments nize an annualcivicengagementsummit,in part relationship building process, and not just aone-timecontact. Finally, the City could orga with referrals ofalong-term to otherCityandschooldistrict services. This should be part outvoter registrationcarry drives, inform voters about upcomingelections,andeven help Latino individuals. These volunteers, whowouldbe officially recognized by theCity, would approaches, suchascreating a deputy registrar system to of identify and train a cohort Though the use ofdirect mail seems promising, the Citycould pilot other innovative search search - - - -