New York, NY –Thursday, October 21, 2010– Today Lillian Rodríguez-López, President of the Hispanic Federation issued the following statement in response to the release of political advertisements encouraging Latinos not to vote in the upcoming elections: “Latinos have fought too hard for the rights of citizenship and full participation in voting and the electoral process is chief among those rights. To suggest to any voter that they would be better off staying home is quite frankly disgusting, and a slap in the face to American democracy. The Hispanic Federation will double its efforts and continue to work with our member organizations to ensure that Latino eligible voters exercise their right to vote on November 2nd. We will work to ensure the voters’ rights are promoted, protected, and respected in this election.”

Hispanic Federation has registered over 200,000 new voters in the last 15 years and is outraged by the message behind the ad funded by a group named Latinos for Reform that suggests Latinos should not vote on November 2nd.

For more information about HF's Civic Participation initiatives, please click here.