With elections only a few days away, a Kern County nonprofit organization has been hosting meetings to educate voters on the propositions on their ballots.
Building Healthy Communities held one of those stops at Chepe's Mexican Restaurant in Arvin on Friday evening, where voters learned about the different propositions in Spanish.
Reyna Olaguez, president of Building Healthy Communities, said the organization hosts the meetings in partnership with other groups.
"It's a coalition of organizations. Here in Arvin, we're partnering with Comunidades Aliadas Tomando Acción. In McFarland, we partnered with Faith in the Valley. So there's just so many of us that are coming together," Olaguez said.
Olaguez said the meetings have drawn strong attendance, particularly from voters who may not have participated before.
"We've had amazing turnout, especially from older Latina women that are trying to understand it that maybe haven't voted in the past. And so we're very excited to be able to provide that resource to our community so that they could understand the propositions," Olaguez said.
Nancy Rodriguez attended Friday evening's meeting after hearing about it through her mother and on social media. This will be her first time voting, and she said attending the meeting helped her not feel overwhelmed.
"It's the first time that I understand a ballot, sometimes you don't understand it and don't know who to vote for," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said she is thankful that organizers with Building Healthy Communities took their time explaining things.
"This was very beneficial because there were a lot of things that I didn't even know about. And was finally able to get things cleared out," Rodriguez said.
Building Healthy Communities will be tabling outside at Cal State Bakersfield on Monday from 2 to 4 p.m.
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