California Secretary of State Alex Padilla defended the integrity of the state’s election procedures and encouraged students to register to vote at an event Tuesday in Sacramento State’s University Union.

“I’m getting asked a lot of questions about the integrity of the election because there’s some people out there — I’m not going to name names — who say it’s going to be rigged,” Padilla said. “It’d be impossible for someone on the internet to hack or rig our election. It’s a lie.”

Padilla was the keynote speaker at Tu Voto Es Tu Voz, Spanish for “Your Vote Is Your Voice,” an event sponsored by Voto Latino designed to encourage Latino students to register.

“The Latino vote can be powerful in this election but many Latinos are not registered,” said Julian Vasquez, a volunteer with Voto Latino. “It’s important that we have events like these do that the next generation of Americans can participate in the democratic process.”

While 28 percent of California’s eligible voters are Hispanic, according to the Pew Research Center, only 19.7 percent of the 2012 California electorate was Latino, according to a UC Davis study.

Voto Latino and Padilla want to change that, particularly among young Latinos. Only 8.2 percent of all Californians aged 18-24 voted in the November 2014 election, according to KQED News.

“Do you think if a million more young people registered and voted that politics would be different?” Padilla asked. “Sac State could invest not just in buildings but in keeping education affordable for all of you.”

Padilla said that many young Latinos don’t vote because their families don’t have a tradition of voting.

Padilla’s parents were not American citizens when he was growing up and therefore could not vote.

“Growing up they never took us to vote not because they believed it wasn’t important but because they weren’t registered,” Padilla said. “I’m hoping that by sharing my story I can convince you to register to vote.”

Padilla said he was not interested in politics growing up. Then, in 1994, Proposition 187 passed, prohibiting undocumented immigrants from utilizing non-emergency hospital care and public education in California until it was found unconstitutional in federal court.

“All of a sudden I realized ‘this politics thing really affects me whether I like it or not and it’s going to affect my community whether I realize it or not,’ ” Padilla said. “Maybe my high school government teacher was right.”

Deion Seruelo, an international relations major, challenged Padilla on the fact that he did not debate his Green Party opponent when he ran for Secretary of State in 2014.

“If you have 50 people on stage everyone gets a minute and a half,” Padilla said. “Just because you get your name on the ballot doesn’t mean you’re a viable candidate.”

Seruelo said he doesn’t feel represented by either the Democratic or Republican parties.

“I guess I’m passionate because I feel like the two party system is biased and not inclusive,” Seruelo said. “The political process really promotes the tyrannies of the two parties that we have to follow this ‘lesser of two evils’-ism.”
October 24 is the last day to register to vote for the November 8 general elections. People can register to vote on the Secretary of State’s website.