Immigrants Vote in Ward Five

Eva Castillo came to the United States from Venezuela about 32 years ago as a student. She stayed on as a permanent resident, marrying an American citizen in 1984. An immigrant's rights activist, Castillo became a citizen three weeks ago.

I was sworn in as a U.S. citizen December 14th in Concord District Court and I headed straight to Manchester City Hall to register to vote.

Have you voted yet today?

Oh yes. Six-thirty in the morning, I was voting.

And how did it feel?

It felt great.

Castillo was volunteering at a polling site in ward five, where there's a huge immigrant population. Ward five moderator Jeff Michaelson says on election day the call goes out for interpreters to help people with the voting process.

The goal is to try to get everyone registered and allow them to participate in the process. And the sooner we do it, especially with young people, the more likely it is that these people will go on to become regular voters throughout their life.

For NHPR news, I'm Ellen Grimm.