B'ham News: Few Hispanics registered to vote

From Friday's News:

While Hispanics are a growing part of Alabama's population, they make up less than 1 percent of the state's registered voters, state figures show.

According to the secretary of state's office, Alabama has nearly 2.7 million active registered voters. Nearly 2 million are white, according to state figures. More than 657,000 are black. The listed total of Hispanic voters is 7,187, about 0.3 percent.

Overall, Alabama has more than 4.5 million residents, more than 100,000 of them Hispanic, according to U.S. Census estimates. The Hispanic population has jumped more than a third since 2000.

A crisis? Evidence of discrimination and intimidation directed against Hispanics? Hardly.

While the state's listed number of registered Hispanic voters appears low, interviews with some county boards of registrars indicate the registration figure is higher because officials in some counties, such as populous Shelby and Mobile, have listed Hispanics in the "other" racial category. ...

Officials offered several explanations for the state's low number of Hispanic voters. One reason is that it takes time for any new arrivals, particularly with another language and culture, to become politically active and vote. But to be a voter, one must be a U.S. citizen, and many Alabama Hispanics are not. ...

Ann Moore, a member of the Franklin board of registrars, said there was a primary reason for the low figure: "Because they are here illegally and they know if they try to push anything, they're going to be sent back."

The News wastes considerable space on this story, but still fails to ask two questions that may have made it newsworthy: Of Alabama's Hispanic citizens, what percentage is registered to vote? How does that number compare to the numbers of whites and blacks who are registered to vote? Since the News doesn't provide answers to those questions, I'm left wondering what the purpose of this story was. The tone is one of "Look...here's a problem!" but the only "problem" I can see is that non-citizens aren't allowed to vote. That's a problem I can live with.