mmigration Protests May Not Spur Votes

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060904/D8JU76BO2.html

Immigration Protests May Not Spur Votes
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Sep 4, 2:40 PM (ET)

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD and PETER PRENGAMAN

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Immigration protests that drew hundreds of thousands of flag-waving demonstrators to the nation's streets last spring promised a potent political legacy - a surge of new Hispanic voters.

"Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote," they proclaimed.

But an Associated Press review of voter registration figures from Chicago, Denver, Houston, Atlanta and other major urban areas that had large rallies found no sign of a new voter boom that could sway elections. There was a rise in Los Angeles, where 500,000 protested in March, but it was more of a trickle than a torrent.


Immigration-rights demonstrators march to the Arizona state Capitol, April 10, 2006, in Phoenix. These immigration protests that sent hundreds of thousands of people into the nation's streets this spring promised to leave behind a potent political legacy _ a surge of new Hispanic voters. But an Associated Press review of registration figures from major rally cities suggests there has been no surge in registrations, at least not yet.(AP Photo/Matt York, File)


Protest organizers - principally unions, Hispanic advocacy groups and the Catholic Church - acknowledge that it has been hard to translate street activism into voting clout, though they insist they can reach their goal of 1 million new voters by 2008.

FULL story at link above.

[PsN2Wind]

1. Illegal immigrants can protest

but they can't vote, at least not yet.