‘This is my civil right’: New American citizens prepare to vote in Colorado general election

American flags are seen on a table at a polling location in Parker on June 28, 2022. (Carl Payne for Colorado Newsline)

One evening in mid-October, Giselle Noll rushed out to Office Depot to get a new ballpoint pen.

She didn’t have any at home, but she had received her Colorado ballot in the mail from the Boulder County clerk and recorder’s office.

It was time to vote for the first time as an American citizen, and she wanted to do it that night. She had read the Blue Book, researched the issues and was ready to go.

She filled out her ballot — lengthy and crowded with state-level propositions and local measures — and dropped it off the next day.

“It’s an honor to be an American citizen. The best way to actually be part of the country, and a part of the community, is to participate,” she said. “Obviously, this election, like any other election, is a big deal because you’re choosing your own — and in my case, my daughter’s — future. It’s very important that now I can actually have my voice heard.”

Noll, 38, first came to the United States from Venezuela in 2017 to study for her master’s degree on a student visa. She met her now-husband and started a family, obtained her permanent resident card and finally took her oath of allegiance to the United States of America in May.

She is one of approximately 75,000 Coloradans of voting age who have become citizens since 2015, according to the University of Southern California Equity Research Institute. People from Mexico make up 28% of that group and about 39% are Latino.

Many new citizens register to vote right after their oath ceremony with the help of groups like the League of Women Voters or local political parties. Noll registered on her phone on the car ride home from her ceremony.

And for many new citizens in Colorado, this year’s election will be the first time they are voting for a presidential candidate.

“It feels like my voice and my vote can count, and that there can be a change,” said Maysaa Abdalmaged, an immigrant from Sudan who became a citizen in March 2021. Her ballot is filled out and she had planned to drop it off at the drop box in her Denver neighborhood.

“It’s deciding the future for the economy, immigrants, health care and whether a woman will be voted into office,” she said, referencing the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Abdalmaged, 34, said she sat out of the 2022 midterms because she was living in Louisiana and felt overwhelmed by the registration and voting process.

This year was different, even easy, she said. She attended an information event from the non-profit Community Resource Center that went over everything on the ballot, from the top of the ticket all the way to Denver measures. She felt so prepared that when a neighbor asked for help understanding Amendment 80, which concerns school choice, she could explain the issue and her own opinion on it.

An August poll from the National Partnership for New Americans looking at naturalized-voter attitudes found that economic issues like inflation and the cost of living are top of mind for the demographic.

“People often think that ‘Oh, these are new American voters. Maybe their No. 1 issue is immigration.’ But it is actually aligned with their U.S.-born counterparts,” said NPNA executive director Nicole Melaku.

Melaku said there is typically a gap in turnout between naturalized voters and those born in the United States.

“We know it takes more effort, just anecdotally, for us to engage communities. There’s a lot of competing demands in people’s lives, and a lot of language barriers to overcome, and a lot more work that goes into engaging a new American electorate,” she said.

This year, she worries that voter intimidation at drop boxes and polling places could discourage immigrant turnout.

Among the respondents in the NPNA poll, 53.4% said they would vote for Harris and 38.3% said they would vote for former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.

Immigration as top concern

Immigration came after economic concerns in that NPNA poll. About two-thirds of respondents agreed that the presidential administration should create programs to make it easier for immigrants to cross at official border points, rather than more dangerous spots along the southern border with Mexico. Another 56% agreed that people fleeing violence and persecution in their home country should continue to be able to seek asylum in the United States.

New citizens who are voting for the first time are doing so during a time of highly charged political rhetoric about immigrants and the immigration system. Trump has vowed to conduct mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and has amplified false claims that non-citizens are voting illegally and draining emergency disaster funding. Colorado became a hotbed of political scrutiny when claims that a Venezuelan gang had taken over multiple Aurora apartment complexes — claims that local officials refute as exaggerated — made national headlines and prompted a campaign rally stop from Trump.

“I was completely horrified by the statements made about Latinos and immigrants in general. This is a country of immigrants,” Noll said. “It’s obviously very hurtful to read these very charged statements about immigrants, when most of the people who are here just want to earn a life and give a better chance to their families. It’s definitely part of why I voted the way I did.”

Noll said she voted for Harris.

“I was lucky enough to come into this country with a student visa. That’s different from other people who have come into the country after three months of walking and very dangerous situations. I do think there has to be some sort of immigration reform,” she said.

Immigration was also a top issue for Fabiola Alamos Salcedo, 30, this year. Originally from Chile, she became a citizen in May and registered to vote the same day. She said she voted for Harris.

“I want immigration to be safe and legal for everyone. If you’re going to deport someone, you have to do it with your heart in mind. You can’t do what Donald Trump did eight years ago,” she said, referring to the Trump administration’s family separation policy. Salcedo said she voted for Harris this year.

“I feel so happy to have the chance to represent a lot of Latina women who are in the United States. I feel like, with my vote, I’m advocating for women who don’t have those opportunities I have,” she said.

Voting in person

Reproductive rights and firearm safety were also important to Salcedo. This year, Coloradans are deciding on a constitutional amendments that would guarantee the right to an abortion and impose an excise tax on guns and ammunition.

In Chile, Salcedo’s father would drive the family around so they could vote, as everyone has an assigned in-person polling location. It was much easier this year. She filled out and returned her mail ballot on the same day.

This is Mohemed Juma’s second time voting in a presidential election, but the Sudanese immigrant said it feels different than four years ago.

“This is my civil right,” the Denver resident, who became a citizen in January 2020, said. “And this is a very important election that is going to shift history. We don’t know what is going to happen, but I want to be part of that shift,” he said.

Juma, 32, plans to vote for Harris, and thinks a woman president will be a strong motivator and example for his daughter and three sisters.

He said that witnessing the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob forcibly entered the U.S Capitol to disrupt the certification of election results, felt reminiscent of the Sudanese civil war he fled as a refugee. Political division, threats to democracy, hate and discrimination are all reasons he thinks it is important to vote, he said. He thinks of his own safety as well.

“I don’t want to see (political violence) again,” he said.

Some of the other immigrants in his social circle are hesitant to vote, he said, but he is encouraging them to turn out.

“They think that it’s just the same, that whoever takes office will be the same,” he said. “But I’m reminding them that this will affect their day-to-day life, whether it’s the economy, work, family life or the grocery bills.”

Juma said he plans to vote in person on Election Day, just as he did in 2020. Dropping off a ballot doesn’t feel the same as showing up, standing in line and casting a ballot in front of people.

“It feels nice,” he said. “It feels like I’m really doing something.”

Colorado voters have until 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 to return their ballot. People can also register on Election Day and still cast a ballot.