Jesse Chavez Navarro is proud of being an American. He has voted in every election since he was sworn in as a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1999. He has taken his civic duty so seriously that he's even volunteered as a poll worker in local and national elections. But when he showed up to vote near his home in Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 7, he was faced with a situation that shattered his pride and brought him to the brink of tears.

Having legally changed his name from Jesus to Jesse upon becoming a citizen, Navarro informed electoral authorities of the change to avoid confusion. His name was listed on Election Day, but as an inactive voter. He was offered a provisional ballot. Impossible, he thought. Voting was not only his right as a citizen, but a moral obligation. When he insisted on his role as an active voter, he was asked about his legal status in the country and his party affiliation. “I am a U.S. citizen,” he said, “and a Democrat.”

The mere question was insulting. The reaction of the election worker was appalling. “He told me either take the provisional ballot or go somewhere else,” Navarro recalled with indignation. “I told him I just wanted to make my vote count.” The worker then proceeded to push him and told him to keep moving or get out. “I was being intimidated because I am a Latino and a Democrat,” he assured me.

His is one of hundreds of stories of voters who claim to have been intimidated or harassed. In Arizona, there were reports of three men who approached Hispanic voters with video cameras and a clipboard, one of them armed with a handgun strapped around his hips. In Denver, some Hispanic voters said they received phone calls saying that their ethnicity made them ineligible to cast a ballot and that they would be arrested if they voted. A similar situation was reported in Virginia.

Several Latino organizations, such as the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, the National Council of La Raza and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, were able to document at least 100 reports of problems at polling places.

One of the complaints received was from Carla Beltran of Houston, who became a citizen this past June after living in the country 14 years. It was her first time voting. “My English- 
language teacher always told us during class that it was our duty to vote,” she recalled. “If you vote, you can talk; if you don't, shut up,” he would tell them. She wanted to make sure her voice was heard, but when she arrived at her designated voting place after going to the wrong one first, she was told she was not on the list.

“They did not even try to find out why my name wasn't there,” she said. “I was treated with contempt.” She went back home, frustrated by her failed attempt to vote, and called the NALEO hot line. Legal experts were able to find her name on a voter- 
registration log, and sent her back to the same polling place. The workers had no choice but to let her vote after filling out an affidavit. “I felt discriminated against and rejected,” she claimed.

Voter intimidation is nothing new. It has happened for decades, to minority voters or members of an opposing political party. But voters are getting savvier, more aware of their rights. And they have civic groups behind them that are ready to defend them against discrimination, harassment or intimidation.

This time around, the anti-immigrant wave sweeping the country led to an increase in coercion against Latino voters, even though they are American citizens. In these midterm elections, we could see a record Latino voter turnout, showing that not only are Latinos changing the face of America, but they are changing the way America elects its leaders.

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(Maria Elena Salinas is the author of “I AM MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER: LIVING A LIFE WITHOUT SECRETS.” Reach her at www 
.mariaesalinas.com)

© 2006 by Maria Elena Salinas

Distributed by King Features Syndicate