For first time voter Aline Argueta, making healthcare affordable for everyone, accessible education and supporting the immigrant community were the issues most important to her.
“I’m voting for my immigrant community as well… Especially my dad, who can’t vote”, said Argueta who grew up in Westlake.
Argueta was the first person to vote at the The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) Flex Voting Center where local residents were invited to vote early while an all- female mariachi group serenaded them with traditional songs, like las “Las Mañanitas” and “Rata de Dos Patas.”
The Friday event was celebratory with people excited to exercise their right to vote and dance along to the musical performance.
CHIRLA was founded in 1986 to advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees and organizes immigrants and their families to fight harmful policies and demand equity and justice from our government, according to their website.
The mariachi group, Mariachi Lindas Mexicanas, played music and led a march from outside the building with voters and members of CHIRLA singing along and cheering them on as they prepared to vote.
Angelica Salas, Executive Director at CHIRLA, highlighted the importance of voting as a tool with which the Latino and immigrant communities can defend themselves during a time when the federal government is questioning the eligibility of voters in the state.
“A lot of the attacks by the federal government are not just in the streets, but now it’s at the polling places trying to stop people like myself, I’m a naturalized citizen, from voting,” Salas said.
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the Justice Department’s request for California to set aside disputed ballots received in the midterm election, according to a report by the Associated Press.
“As the district court found — and we discern no clear error — there is no feasible way to identify and segregate the ballots of specific individuals without potentially catastrophic effects on the entire system,” the appeals court wrote.
CHIRLA reached more than 30,000 voters in the state through face-to-face education and phone banking about the 14 propositions on the November 3 ballot and making plans to ensure they exercise their power at the ballot box.
The Coalition’s flex voting center was open for one day from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 30th.
Maricela Martinez, director of Mariachi Lindas Mexicanas, said her group was invited by CHIRLA to perform and added that it was an honor to support their work since she is an immigrant who is now able to vote.
“It’s true that ICE is everywhere and we have to be careful, but we can still go out and vote,” said Martinez. “It’s our right, it’s our obligation and we need to do it not only to get that monster out of the white house but also for a change for our children, the new generations and those that came before us and paved the way to not have things be so difficult.”
Martinez played trumpet and took turns singing with other ensemble members for songs like “Volver Volver a Votar” (To return, to return to Voting, in English) as a nod to a well-known ranchera theme famously performed by Vicente Fernández.
After voting, Argueta stayed to enjoy the mariachi performance with her mother. Voting was always encouraged in Argueta’s household since only her and her mother are eligible voters.
Though she’s only 18, Argueta actively volunteers with multiple nonprofits in the area. Her vision for the future has a focus on benefiting the community, emphasizing education and paying attention to politics.
