By Anita Hassan -
NBC News
LAS VEGAS - A month ago, Hadeid Arreola sat at the kitchen table, with her parents and three sisters, to have dinner and discuss the upcoming elections.
Voting is important in your family, especially for your parents who are Mexican immigrants and became US citizens about 25 years ago.
They have always spoken to their daughters about the importance of that right.
But that night, instead of talking about the candidates they will support, they began to debate how they will cast their votes.
During a special session in August, amid security concerns over COVID-19, Nevada lawmakers passed
a bill that for the first time gives all voters the option to vote by mail
or go to the
polls.
ballot boxes if the state is under a disaster or emergency declaration.
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Arreola's parents are in their 50s and were concerned about the option to vote in person.
Nevada's Latino community has been hit hard by COVID-19, so they avoid the crowds.
But her older sister wants to go to the polls because she thinks that casting her vote electronically ensures that her vote will be counted.
"In my case, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do," said Arreola, 31.
She works at Mi Familia Vota - a nonpartisan group of Latino voters nationwide - helping people fill out their voter registration forms correctly:
“I want to be sure that my vote will be counted, but I don't want to put myself at risk by COVID-19 ".
The Arreola family during the New Year's celebration in 2018. From left to right: Elica, 33, Hadeid, 31, Dora, 55, Francisco, 57, Azalia, 19, and Zaret, 21. Courtesy by Hadeid Arreola
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That's the dilemma many Latinos face in that state, as Nevada voter advocacy groups intensify education campaigns in the Latino community to dispel myths about voting options and ensure that any confusion does not diminish turnout.
Latinos are a key demographic in Nevada, and their participation could move the state from left to right, voter advocates and political science experts say.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won Nevada by just 2 percentage points in 2016, and aside from former President Barack Obama's 12-point lead in 2008,
no recent presidential candidate has been victorious in that state by a margin greater than 10. percentage points
.
“If someone wants to win this election in Nevada, be it presidential or local, they are not going to do it if they don't have Latino voters,” said Cecia Alvarado, state director of Mi Familia Vota in Nevada, “so
we have to make sure that everyone have the correct information because it is important that the Latin voice is heard
”.
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Latinos make up nearly 30% of Nevada's population
and nearly 20% of eligible voters.
Part of the first wave of Latino voters in the state came from Cuba to work in the gambling industry after Fidel Castro closed the casinos in 1959, and they tend to vote conservative, said David Damore, a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
But with the arrival of immigrants from countries like Mexico and El Salvador, as well as a new wave of young voters born in the United States, the Latino vote has shifted to the left.
"The bigger the Latino vote, the better the Democrats will do here," Damore said,
"if it's a small Latino turnout, that tends to favor Republicans."
Under Nevada's new law, which the Trump campaign unsuccessfully challenged in federal court, all active registered voters will automatically receive an absentee ballot by Oct. 17, whether they requested it or not.
Nevada is one of nine states, along with Washington, DC, that mails ballots directly to all voters.
It is unclear how the new law could affect the turnout of Latino voters in Nevada.
The state primaries were in June and were conducted, almost entirely, with mail-in ballots.
That made them one of the highest turnout primaries in state history, with 491,654 votes cast, nearly 30% of all registered voters.
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However, as reported by The Nevada Independent, more than 10,000 of those ballots were not counted, largely because they were sent with missing or mismatched signatures.
Voter advocacy groups and civic organizations say
that has contributed to the concerns of voters who fear that mistakes could be made in voting by mail
, which could invalidate their votes.
A poll worker processes ballots mailed during the Las Vegas primary election, held on June 9.
AP
Voting organizations say they have received dozens of phone calls from voters asking everything
from how to send their ballots to which signature to use
(the new law requires that the signature used on the ballot return envelope matches the one on file with the voter registry).
"Many people feel that there is certainty in seeing that their vote is transmitted electronically and they fear that they will not have the option to correct a mistake such as when they use a voting machine or ask an official for help if they do not understand something on the ballot", said Rudy Zamora, director of programs at Chispa Nevada, a group of the League of Voters for Conservation, an organization that helps Latinos participate in the political process.
Zamora says the organization has also received questions about social distancing measures at the polls and whether early voting in person is safer.
"We spend a lot of time trying to help people figure out what is the best option for them," he said.
Lorenzo Becerra, 23, said that he previously planned to vote in person.
But over the summer, he lost his great-uncle and great-aunt to COVID-19, and he worries about the impact of thousands of people gathered to vote.
Lorenzo Becerra, 23, decided to vote by mail because he lost two members of his family to COVID-19. Lorenzo Becerra
"I don't want to be part of a bigger problem going to the polls,"
said Becerra, a nursing student who also works in his family's trucking business.
However, you are concerned about making a mistake.
He contacted a friend of hers who volunteers at a local civic organization to help him fill out his ballot correctly when he received it.
"It's a really important election and I don't want to do anything wrong and have my ballot returned or not counted," said Becerra, "I just want to get it right for the first time."
Some voters are concerned that the Postal Service may not send their ballots to the elections office on time.
Sol del Risco, 18, a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who will vote for the first time, said that lately he has noticed delays in mail delivery, so he plans to take his ballot to a delivery location instead to leave it in a mailbox.
"That seems to be the best way to make sure it got through," he
said.
Sol del Risco, 18, will vote for the first time in this election and plans to do so by mail.
Courtesy of Sol Del Risco
Elica Arreola is the sister of Hadeid Arreola and is 33 years old.
She works as an assistant teacher in a kindergarten and said she was initially concerned about mailing her ballot but, since she learned that Nevada allows voters to track their ballots, she now prefers to vote by mail.
Hadeid Arreola still isn't sure.
He says he's going to be watching how crowded the polls will be during early voting.
If they are not so full, you could vote in person.
If there are many people, they will cast their vote by mail.
He remembers when he voted in his first presidential election in 2008. He went to the polls with his parents and older sister to vote for Obama.
They were living in Idaho at the time and their father emphasized those choices by reminding them that they could not achieve government solutions if they did not participate in the process.
"I am going to vote whatever happens," said Hadeid Arreola, "I want my voice to be heard."