Citizenship backlog may keep immigrants from polls

Jaime Soto, of Sunrise, helped almost 500 legal residents file citizenship applications this summer. A looming fee hike was the stick; the opportunity to vote for the next U.S. president was the carrot.

But with a huge surge in citizenship applications to be processed, Soto now wonders whether all those people he helped will make it to the ballot box next November. He fears many will still be waiting for citizenship, forced to
sit on the sidelines when elections roll around.

This concern has spread across the United States, especially among leaders of Latino groups that launched a campaign last week to attract new citizens to voter rolls.

They warn that this summer's flood of citizenship applications is crashing into government delays and may prevent hundreds of thousands of would-be voters from registering in time.

Cecilia Muñoz, executive vice president of the National Council of La Raza, called the phenomenon a front log — a swell of applications that have been submitted but have yet to be entered into the system.

Undeterred by receipt delays, Latino groups and a trio of prominent Spanish-language networks launched the second phase of their "Ya Es Hora," or "It's Time," campaign last week. The drive first focused on eligible residents, encouraging them to apply for citizenship, and has now shifted to citizens as well, asking them to register to vote.