This is particularly true among Puerto Ricans, Mexican Americans and other Latinos and the fight against electoral racism is certainly one shared experience. Widespread disenfranchisement of Latinos is common in those areas where they form a large portion of the population as African Americans do in the South. Not surprisingly, George W. Bush's home state of Texas is one of the worst offenders. Jose Garza of Texas Rural Legal Aid has handled 100 cases concerning Latino voting rights. At the polls, Latinos are asked to show not only their voter registration cards but also I.D. to prove they are the people with the cards.
Polls located in majority Mexican areas run out of ballots during an election.
Sheriffs and other law enforcement officials are sent to visit people, mostly older Mexicans, who request absentee ballots. Also, no one can legally help another person fill out an absentee ballot more than once. One of Jose Garza's clients helped two people fill out an application and was prosecuted for doing so. Latinos in our own state of California face similar abuses of the Voting Rights Act. Attorney Joaquin Avila mentioned inadequate bilingual service in terms of ballots and poll-watchers.