Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region 104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200 Glendale, California 91206 Phone: 818.500.1918 media@ancawr.org www.ancawr.org

PRESS RELEASE +++ PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: February 21, 2013

Contact: William Bairamian Tel: 818-500-1918

Heading Into Municipal Elections, Hye Votes Going Strong

Glendale – After a whirlwind election season in 2012 where Hye Votes, an initiative of the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR), registered nearly 5000 new voters, the massive voter education, registration, and turnout efforts in the Armenian community continue to grow.

Los Angeles, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and other municipalities around Southern California will be holding elections throughout the spring and the Armenian-American vote will play a significant role in determining the outcomes in those areas.

As part of making voter outreach a part of every election cycle, the ANC-WR has joined the Los Angeles Voter Engagement Coalition (LAVEC) where it works with other organizations, like the California Participation Project, and the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office, to increase the number of voters throughout the City of Los Angeles.

“Our L.A. Voter Engagement Coalition is a diverse group of civic engagement organizations which formed last July in preparation for the first-ever National Voter Registration Day on September 25, 2012. The group has continued to meet since then because we realized how important and valuable the space was in sharing information and coordinating resources between and among groups doing similar work in different parts of the City and County,” said Lawrence Joe, Project Director at the California Participation Project. “With the L.A. municipal elections just around the corner, it’s really important to combine forces with community-based organizations such as ANC-WR, which has the credibility and trust of the Armenian community, to best mobilize their community for Election Day.”

As a coalition partner, the ANC-WR has built bridges with other community organizations, working with them to increase civic engagement and participation in the City of Los Angeles.

Hye Votes continues to work with its dedicated team of volunteers and coalition partners, like Rock the Vote, to ensure high voter turnout among the Armenian-American community.

“Our involvement is testament to the ANCA-WR’s commitment to working with partners to educate the public about voting,” said ANCA-WR External Affairs Deputy, Tereza Yerimyan. “We will continue to work with organizations who share the core principle with the ANCA of trying to make our community a better place through grassroots effort.”

To learn more about the California Participation Project and the work done for L.A. City Votes 2013, visit http://caparticipates.org/.

For Los Angeles election information in Armenian, visit http://clerk.lacity.org/stellent/groups/departments/@clerk_elections_contributor/documents/contributor_web_content/lacityp_024303.pdf

To find your polling place, visit http://www.lavote.net/LOCATOR/.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

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Attached: Hye Votes logo