Latinos are the fastest growing demographic group in the United States and are now the second-largest ethnic group in the country. Growing diversity shouldn’t be a challenge to democracy—no race or culture holds a monopoly on self-government. But Latinos are disproportionately young, and like other young voters, they often vote at lower rates and can benefit from being explicitly invited to participate in elections and other democratic practices. Latinos also have a particular set of shared interests. Unfortunately, elected politicians often seem more concerned with placing barriers on voter registration and the ballot than they are with attending to a changing electorate’s democratic preferences. These are all issues that this episode’s guest—María Teresa Kumar—has spent her career working to address.
María Teresa Kumar is the president of Voto Latino, an organization she cofounded with actor Rosario Dawson in 2004, and is today the largest Latino voter registration organization in the United States. Kumar also heads the Voto Latino Foundation, an influential Latino youth advocacy organization. She served on President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and is a member of several important organizations, including the National Task Force on Election Crises and the Council on Foreign Relations. She’s also a Kettering Foundation senior fellow.
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