New group works to register Puerto Rican voters,

The Puerto Rican community in Central Florida is again the focus of a group aimed at registering voters for the November election, the latest of several organizations looking to tap into a potentially huge source of new voters. The progressive group For Our Future Florida on Tuesday announced the launch of an outreach program designed to target Puerto Rican voters in the I-4 Corridor.

The effort will be paid for by the Super PAC For Our Future, itself funded largely by the AFLCIO and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, and the nonprofit group For Our Future Action Fund. The group plans to have organizers on the ground in Orange, Osceola and Volusia counties.

The program “will drive voter turnout among Hispanic voters and newly arrived Puerto Ricans by communicating with them at their front steps through doorto-door canvassing,” according to a statement.

In addition, For Our Future Florida plans social service fairs, voter education events and direct mail, digital and radio ads.

“This expanded outreach program means organizers on the ground connecting Hispanic communities to local social services and working with families directly to address their issues,” said the group’s political director, Josh Romero. “It also gives us a chance to educate newly arrived Puerto Ricans about voting differences in Florida and the candidates on the ballot this fall.”

The group also plans to partner with groups already working to register and reach out to Puerto Rican voters, including Mi Familia Vota and the Hispanic Federation.

Other groups aimed at registering Puerto Rican and Hispanic voters in Central Florida include UnidosUS, the coalition group Respeta Mi Gente and the group created by Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló called Poder Puerto Rico, which has been criticized by local groups for a lack of effort despite a well-publicized kickoff in April.

At the end of the registration period for August’s primaries, the number of registered Hispanics had jumped in Osceola County, considered the heart of the Puerto Rican community in Florida, by 22 percent. The Hispanic percentage of the electorate did not change much, however.