As the deadline to register to vote for the California Primary Elections approaches, Elen Asatryan, the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region issued a letter encouraging voter registration and participation in the Primary Election on June 7.

Below is the text of that letter, titled “A forced to be reckoned with…” in reference to a Los Angeles Times article that called the Armenian-American constituency “a force to be reckoned with.”

Friends,

That subject line says it all. On Friday the LA Times ran a story detailing how the Armenian American vote, led by the ANCA-WR and Hye Votes COULD be key to the 43rd Assembly District race between our highly qualified Ardy Kassakhian and the CCSA backed Laura Friedman, the same organization founded by the current head of the Magnolia charter schools linked to Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen and his movement.

While definitely a positive story, especially when numerous seasoned political consultants describe our community as “a force to be reckoned with,” or “playing at a different level,” there was one key word to focus on: “COULD”

In the end, “COULD” doesn’t count. There is only one word that counts: “WILL”.

Our community WILL be the deciding vote in the 43rd Assembly, the 5th LA County Supervisors, and the 25th State Senate districts by electing Ardy Kassakhian, Ara Najarian and Anthony Portantino respectively, if we take a stand.

We WILL be a force to be reckoned with and we WILL continue to play at a different level because we have people like you, but only if you show up to the front lines.

Election Day is two weeks away, we need you now.

If you’re not registered to vote, register by 11:59pm on Monday, May 23rd. If you are registered, MAKE SURE TO VOTE by either sending in your vote-by-mail ballot today or VOTE ON TUESDAY, JUNE 7th.

Our strength is in our UNITY and making our COLLECTIVE VOICE heard. Spread the word by making sure all your friends and family are registered and ready to vote. We cannot let the special interests silence our community.

As our Chair Nora Hovsepian wrote to you on Friday, the special interests are spending over 1 million dollars in negative and dirty campaign tactics to try to buy the 43rd CA Assembly district seat, but when all is said and done – you hold the power of the outcome with your vote.

The time to act is now.

All election details are available at ANCAWR.org/2016elections

Let’s Rock the HyeVote!

In Common Cause,

Elen Asatryan

Executive Director

P.S- Our staff and volunteers are working around the clock to register community members to vote and get the vote out. Please also take some time to stop by the campaign office to help out, Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday noon to 6 p.m. We can use all the helping hands we can get.