Spanish TV show to teach voters about presidential election

The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials is teaming up with an Atlanta-based Spanish-language television station to educate Latino voters about the upcoming national election.

Univision 34 will devote three episodes of its community affairs show “Nuestra Georgia” to the election. The shows, the first of which is set to air at 6 p.m. Saturday, will be nonpartisan and focus on educating the state’s Latino electorate about the voting process and the positions of the two candidates.

“We have a long-established relationship with the Spanish media across the state,” said GALEO executive director Jerry Gonzalez. “With this show, we’re taking it to another level. We thought this would be a great opportunity to educate Latino voters.”

The shows are a complement to “Destino 2008,” Univision’s national effort to provide information in Spanish on the election, said “Nuestra Georgia” host Paola Salazar. The shows will be tailored to the Georgia audience, with information about where to register, where to vote and interviews with local representatives from the two parties. Similar programs are being produced by Univision stations elsewhere in the country, said Univision spokeswoman Monica Talan.

“We want to be really equal on all the information we’re giving to the people,” she said, stressing the nonpartisan nature of the shows.

She said each show will have representatives from Republicans and Democrats.

Saturday’s show will specifically emphasize voter registration, with a push to get more Latinos registered by the Oct. 6 deadline.

The second show, slated for Oct. 25, will focus on making sure Latinos know their voting rights, including the right to bring someone along to translate if necessary.

The final installment, set for after the election on Nov. 29, will talk about the president-elect, including his plans and goals for the next four years.

Gonzalez said it is important to provide information on the elections in Spanish because many naturalized citizens are more comfortable hearing and thinking about these important issues in their native tongue. GALEO’s election information hotline already has gotten many calls seeking information in Spanish, Gonzalez said.

The Georgia secretary of state’s office offers no information in Spanish in the voter information section of its Web site.

“Since the state is not providing information on the elections in both English and Spanish, we felt like that was something we need to do,” Gonzalez said.

He estimates there are about 100,000 Latino voters registered in Georgia and said he thinks there are another 100,000 eligible Latinos who are not registered.

GALEO has been holding voter registration drives and producing public service announcements.