Community activists registered Latino voters at a Columbus bar on Thursday night.  The League of United Latin American Citizens or LULAC is trying to register 10,000 new Latino voters in Ohio. Maritza Motino directs the LULAC’s voter registration effort. 

"We want to make sure that the Latino vote is counted,” Motino says. “Not only for the issues that pertain to Latinos, but also because we believe that the Latino vote is the important key issue to win this election.”

Volunteers have held voter registration drives at churches, supermarkets and festivals around Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Cleveland. 

Thirty-one-year-old Derek Amaya will vote for the first time this year.  He came to the United States from Honduras in 1986 and became a citizen two years ago. 

"I’m not like into politics, but this year I’ve been involved a lot because my life and my family and others depend on who is going to be our president.” 

Twenty-two-year-old Karen Castro has voted since she was 18. She re-registered because she moved since the last election.  Castro says Latinos need to understand the political issues. 

"The issues at stake are women’s rights, the dream act,” Castro says, adding that state issues like redistricting reform, are important.