Milwaukee County's Latino vote; group works to boost turnout

MILWAUKEE - There's a group of local women taking action to bring more of the Latinx community to the polls.

Getting more than just groceries is what many people took home during a supermarket run on Monday, Feb. 19, and Enrique Lomeli is the first to tell you.

"I was starstruck by curiosity, really," Lomeli said.

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Lomeli, 81, is just one of the more than 150,000 Latinos living in Milwaukee County, making up 39.5% of the Latino population in the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and U.S. Census data.

He said he votes regularly, making sure to get his voice heard.

And getting voices heard is where the League of Women Voters comes in, providing information and resources to ensure Latino votes count during elections.

"Historically [the Latino population] doesn't come out to vote as much, said Eloisa Gómez, volunteer with Comité por el Voto Latino (Latinx Voter Outreach Team) of the League of Women Voters. "The numbers of registered voters are not turning out in terms of voting."

One thing the group is doing is handing out flyers with a QR code that when you scan it, it takes you to the website to register to vote.

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"We also remind them about, they should check their registration status, that they can vote the day of elections," Gómez said.

While Lomeli said he participated in elections since becoming a citizen 30 years ago, he believes these are helpful efforts to get the word out to others.

"I believe it will help make a change," he said.

Editor's note: FOX6 News translated parts of interviews used in this story from Spanish to English.