In the weeks before the Nov. 5 election, Eliana Rodriguez knocked on door after door in her Vermont Knolls neighborhood in South Los Angeles, registering her neighbors to vote and letting them know what was at stake.

While much of the conversation is around the presidential election, he said there are ballot measures and proposals that directly impact their communities. 19-year-old Rodriguez tried to rally support measure A — a sales tax to help the homeless population and encourage their neighbors to vote against it Recommendation 36This will increase penalties for some drug or theft crimes.

But mostly he wanted to encourage them to vote. As a first-time voter, she too found the process “a little frustrating.”

“When I looked at my ballot, I didn’t realize there was so much to learn,” he said. “I’m confused about some of the offers; it’s a bit stressful because there’s a lot going on.”

Searching for answers, she turned to her mother, pored over online materials and relied on the Community Coalition, a South Los Angeles-based nonprofit that Rodriguez has been a part of since her teenage years.

Now, she’s working for the organization to help other first-time and occasional voters make sure their voices are heard this election. And Rodriguez isn’t the only one.

Across Los Angeles County, a new generation of Latino community organizers has come of age and is ready to vote for the first time and help others do the same. Some said they felt called to action. They look at their communities and their schools and want to make them better.

“A lot of times our votes get ignored (in the presidential race), especially because we are a densely populated state,” said Brianna Angulo, 20, of Pomona. “But I also think about how we have direct influence or control over local politics.”

Angulo joined Gente Organizada as a volunteer in 2019. Now, as a permanent employee, he is campaigning for Pomona Measure Y, a ballot measure that could direct at least 10% of the city’s revenues to children’s programs and services.

The work of the UCLA Latino Policy and Policy Institute to create The number of Latino voters in L.A. County has nearly doubled from 1.4 million in 2000 to 2.6 million in 2022.

Rodrigo Dominguez-Villegas, who serves as the institute’s research director, said that when looking at the votes of young people, defined as voters between the ages of 18 and 24, Latino voters represent 58.5%.

“What does this mean?” he said. “Latinos represent far more young voters than the rest of the electorate in L.A. County.”

And greater involvement of these young voters in civic life could help shape the city and its future.

According to the surveys conducted by the CBRT Latino Community FoundationFirst-time or young voters share the same concerns as older voters, including inflation, employment, the economy, housing and abortion rights.

Yari Herrera, 33, said he voted not only for himself but also for others in his family. He was brought to the United States from Cuba as a child. The path to citizenship was a “war”; His application was rejected in 2016, and he finally gained citizenship in August.

He is the first person in his family to become an American citizen and vote. He feels the weight of his vote.

“It means I have a voice that they don’t have, so my vote comes with a lot of responsibility,” Rosemead’s Herrera said.

For the last ten years, Herrera has worked as follows: Chuco’s Youth Justice Coalition, He is trying to reimagine justice in his own society. But he said voting is one of many steps to influencing decisions made on behalf of our communities.

“Voting is not enough,” he said. “We must continue to organize” and elect people who will “represent us” and the issues that concern us.

“If we don’t organize and tell them what we want — which is care first, ending mass incarceration, victim support services and youth development — (elected officials) are going to do whatever they want.”

Many of the youth organizers said they were seeking major systemic changes on immigration, U.S. involvement in the war in Gaza and housing security, and they were unsure whether any of the presidential candidates would use the needle on those issues. But on the ground, they feel like they can make a real impact in their communities.

Benjamin Casar, deputy director of youth programs for the Community Coalition, said the first thing on the minds of some young voters is housing affordability.

“What young people are saying is that we need to know where we will live every day so that we can have a successful academic journey,” he said.

And some of the young people around him draw parallels between marginalized groups around the world.

“It looks different, but there is still a war going on in ethnically diverse communities like South Central,” he continued.

Sara Alvarez, a 19-year-old student at USC, said she grew up looking forward to voting.

“As this is my first election, my vote means a lot, it feels really big and I’m voting for a lot of family members,” she said.

He plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, but admits he doesn’t trust Harris 100%.

“But I know that with him as president, I will feel less stressed, less anxious.”

In imagining what the future might look like, Alvarez hopes that “I will be able to access reproductive rights if I need it, and that every woman has the right to have a say in her own body.” “I hope it will not be difficult for my undocumented family members to live in this country.”

He hopes that by voting he is fighting for these rights.

Back in South Los Angeles, Rodriguez settled into a coffee shop with a group of high school students after a day of door-knocking. They shared what they heard from their neighbors and congratulated the new voters they registered.

They then made plans for the next research trip. There was more work to be done.