HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 A local nonprofit is working to boost turnout among Hispanic voters in Hillsborough County primary elections by hosting a candidate forum and sharing information about the election process.<\/p>\n
Enterprising Latinas<\/a> hosted the forum for the first time, giving voters a chance to hear directly from candidates, regardless of political party affiliation.<\/p>\n The organization hopes the event will increase civic engagement within the Hispanic community ahead of this year\u2019s elections. \u201cVoting is the heart of America,\u201d said Liz Gutierrez, founder of Enterprising Latinas.<\/p>\n Gutierrez said many of the nonprofit\u2019s Hispanic members are registered to vote, but language barriers and uncertainty about where and how to vote can keep some people from casting a ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lack in understanding about how the electoral system works, so this is an opportunity for us to begin to break down some of those barriers,\u201d Gutierrez said.<\/p>\n More than 100,000 Hispanic voters are registered to vote in Hillsborough County.<\/p>\n Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida professor emeritus, said trusted community organizations can play an important role in increasing voter participation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Hispanic vote is very community-focused, and the Hispanic community in the Tampa Bay area is very tight \u2014 neighborhoods, organizations and so forth,\u201d MacManus said.<\/p>\n Despite the large number of registered Hispanic voters, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections<\/a> Craig Latimer said those numbers are often not reflected in primary elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said some voters may not understand that they can participate in a primary. \u201cThey don\u2019t know that they can vote in the primary. They may be unaffiliated and think that there\u2019s nothing for them to vote on.\u201d<\/p>\n