OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Community leaders and nonprofit groups hosted a town hall Tuesday night at Northbridge University as early voting begins in Osceola County, with a focus on answering questions from Latino voters and encouraging turnout during the midterm election season.
According to Census data estimates, more than 480,000 people live in Osceola County, but less than half of the population is registered to vote: 238,552.
Just over 112,000 registered voters in Osceola County identify as Hispanic, which is down from the last midterm election cycle in 2022, when more than 124,000 registered voters identified as Latino.
The event was hosted by Alianza Center, Hispanic Health Initiatives and Empoderate. Organizers said the town hall aimed to address misconceptions and questions voters may have ahead of the midterms.
Marcos Vilar, founder and chief executive officer of Alianza Center, said cultural differences and different political dynamics in the United States compared with voters’ nations of origin can affect whether some Latino voters participate.
“You come here and you’re all of a sudden involved in a conversation that doesn’t sound like the conversation that politics, you know, held for you back home,” Vilar said. “So, it takes time for people to adapt, to understand what is the conversation that’s happening here. Why are people arguing over this?
“The idea is how can we get people involved so that they overcome those barriers that are keeping them from going out and vote? Because the more people vote in our community, the more our community will be paid attention to by those in power.”
A Get Out and Vote Fair is also scheduled for Saturday in front of the Supervisor of Elections Office. Vilar said the event will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and give community members a chance to ask questions and meet others. They are also encouraging people who are registered to vote to come, vote early and bring other registered voters to participate.
The deadline to register to vote for the midterms has passed, but organizers said Saturday’s event is open to anyone in the community who also has questions about future elections and civic engagement.
At Tuesday night’s event, reaching younger voters was also a main discussion. Sebastian Irizarry, a student in Osceola County who attended the town hall, said he wants other Latinos in the community to exercise their vote.
“I think it’s very important that Latino people in general understand that their vote matters. We’re in a different country. Many people from the Latino community come from their country, where many times their vote does not matter because nothing changes,” he said. “I can speak from my behalf. It is like that. Here, it’s a bit different. You do notice who is in charge. As little as one vote can change if you have traffic, if your kids are getting education, if your taxes or your insurance goes up or down, and all it takes is maybe do a little bit of research and signing up to vote.”
