Voto Latino
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Founded in 2004, Voto Latino is a dynamic and growing non-partisan organization whose civic engagement campaigns have reached 55 million Latino households nationwide. United by the belief that Latino issues are American issues and American issues are Latino issues, Voto Latino is dedicated to bringing new and diverse voices into the political process by engaging youth, media, technology and celebrities to promote positive change.

In the past, Voto Latino has creatively and effectively used celebrity voices and the latest technology to register more than 120,000 young Latino voters, galvanize Latino youth and their families to be counted in the 2010 Census, and mobilize them to speak out and take action on policies impacting their lives.


Why it Matters

● There are roughly 9 million American Latino youth in the U.S., but only a small fraction vote.
● 50% of all eligible Latino voters are under 40 and 33% are between 18 and 34.
● By 2050, Latino youth are expected to comprise 29% of the U.S. youth population.
● 50,000 American Latinos turn 18 each month.
● 90% of American Latinos under 29 consume information in English.
● Latinos make up more than 10% of the electorate in 11: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada and Texas.*


Why Voto Latino Works

● Our ‘United We Win’ 2010 mid-term election campaign registered more than 10,500 new young voters in four weeks in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida and Texas.

● Voto Latino’s “Be Counted” 2010 Census campaign was iTunes’ #1 campaign in 2010 in terms of customer acquisition/conversion rate. We distributed more than 100,000 iTunes cards through our on-the-ground network.

● Our ‘Be Counted’ Census campaign trended top 8 globally on Twitter and became a top 4 non-profit channel on YouTube with more than 500,000 views, generating 15,000 pledges to fill out the Census and $150 million in federal funding for Latino communities.

● Voto Latino counts on a celebrity coalition of more than 40 dedicated actors, musicians and celebrities committed to the empowerment of young Latinos.

To learn who’s behind the scenes meet our team. To check out our accomplishments see our award page.

Blog Entries by Voto Latino

Tavis Smiley & Cornel West Challenge Poverty in New Book

(2) Comments | Posted May 24, 2012 | 8:05 AM

Award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley and one of the nation's leading intellectuals, Dr. Cornel West, recently released a new book called The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto (SmileyBooks, April 17, 2012), which challenges our assumptions about poverty. I got a chance to listen in on a...

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Five Questions for Rodrigo y Gabriela

(0) Comments | Posted May 15, 2012 | 6:50 AM


By Kamren Curiel

If you haven't heard of Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela by now, you're sleeping. I got the chance to see them perform live at the Hollywood Bowl last year, and was blown away by their mastery of the guitar and strumming...

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Divorce: A Necessary Evil or Easy Exit?

(8) Comments | Posted May 14, 2012 | 12:14 AM

By Carli Eli


Whether your source of news comes from online media, TV or the latest tabloid, it's hard to ignore the media hype behind celebrity weddings and divorces. A few years ago, we gave our celebrity couples a few years of matrimonial bliss before they called...

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Gustavo Galindo Talks Music, Politics & Education

(0) Comments | Posted May 9, 2012 | 1:30 AM


By Kamren Curiel

No other artist represents today's bicultural Latino quite like singer-songwriter Gustavo Galindo. Born in Mexico City to an Irish/Scottish/French mother and Mexican father, who met in a swimming class at USC, the 30-year-old Latin pop rock artist spent his childhood between Mexico, Lake...

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May Day Protests Make Mark With Music

(1) Comments | Posted May 3, 2012 | 7:15 AM


By Kamren Curiel


Although the May Day march in L.A. yesterday couldn't compete with the historical mass turnout for immigration reform on March 25, 2006, at least 1,000 demonstrators, many from the Occupy movement, convened in downtown to fight for immigration reform and workers' rights. Protesters...

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Urban Legends Reminds Us How Important Street Art Is

(2) Comments | Posted April 25, 2012 | 4:22 AM

With the fight to keep L.A. street art alive, Urban Legends comes to town to remind us all how important it is to have public spaces to create dialogue through various art forms. The public art auction and exhibition is being presented by the Estria...

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Jorge Steven Acuña Opens Up About Being Detained By ICE

(23) Comments | Posted April 19, 2012 | 12:01 AM

By Jorge Steven Acuña

A typical day for a college student usually starts off with the constant snoozing of an alarm clock prior to our first class, but life as we know it doesn't always go as planned. What I thought was supposed to be an ordinary college...

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Outernational Document Their Revolutionary 'We Are All Illegals' Tour

(15) Comments | Posted April 15, 2012 | 7:15 AM

Outernational is on a mission. They just ended the first chapter of their Todos Somos Ilegales (We Are All Illegals) tour, which kicked off at the Texas/Mexico border and weaved through Laredo, San Antonio and El Paso, ending in New York May 24. The...

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The Politics of Jesús: A "Xota" Activist From Salinas, CA

(0) Comments | Posted April 13, 2012 | 2:06 AM


By Pablo Rodriguez


More commonly known by those who love him by his sobre nombre, Jesse is a self-described Xota (jota) artist and community advocate. A BA in History, Chicana/o Studies, and Native American Studies from U.C. Davis, a master's in History from the University of Texas, and...

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In Defense of My Body, Health & Choices

(3) Comments | Posted April 12, 2012 | 7:15 AM

By Jacquie Marroquin

During the recent Women in the World Conference in Washington D.C., Liberian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee said,  "Women need to stop being politely angry."  She was referring to the ever-escalating war on women's access to reproductive care in the United States. This...

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Was the Civil Rights Movement in Vain?

(16) Comments | Posted April 5, 2012 | 6:52 AM

By Carli Eli

Last week, I was in Alabama for a work assignment and to my surprise it was such an eye-opening and heart-wrenching experience. Usually when one thinks of Alabama, the movie Forrest Gump or Lynyrd Skynyrd's song " Sweet Home Alabama" comes to mind. Unfortunately, for...

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Chilean Graffiti Artist Explores Immigration

(1) Comments | Posted April 3, 2012 | 6:39 AM

By Kamren Curiel

It's not everywhere you see graffiti pieces about immigration, but Brooklyn-based Chilean artist Nelson Rivas aka Cekis makes it a point to explore this theme based on his own personal experiences. His first open studio features a series of new works...

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Farmworker Rogelio Lona Honored in Cesar Chavez's Memory

(0) Comments | Posted March 30, 2012 | 6:56 AM

By Marcelino Quiñónez

Washington, DC - Today the White House honors farmworker and activist Rogelio Lona as one of ten leaders being recognized as Champions of Change who, like Cesar Chavez, have dedicated their lives to improving their community and the nation. The Champions of Change program was...

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The Fate of Diversity in College Is Being Tested

(7) Comments | Posted March 29, 2012 | 7:31 AM

By Andrea Gutierrez

The University of Texas at Austin has always been at the forefront of the battle to use race as a college admissions criteria, and this year is no different. UT Austin's admission policies and the decision made in Gutter v. Bollinger (2003) to allow...

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VL Field Organizer Joins the Librotraficante Caravan in Arizona

(1) Comments | Posted March 28, 2012 | 7:36 AM


By Viva Samuel Ramirez


Have you ever felt like you were watching history unfold before your eyes? Like the words you were hearing and the people you were meeting were constructing historically significant events for generations to follow? That was the feeling I had in Tucson...

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The Arts Revolution: Stop Imitating, Start Voting

(1) Comments | Posted March 22, 2012 | 7:43 AM

By Marcelino Quiñónez

It's often said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. This country has definitely seen its share of a repeated behavior. For the greater part of the last 50 years, anytime injustice has been committed against a minority, the people who identify with that...

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Marcelino Quiñonez: A Face on Time Magazine's "Yo Decido" Cover

(3) Comments | Posted March 16, 2012 | 1:54 AM


By Carli Eli


If you walked past a newsstand last week, you probably noticed Time Magazine's March 5 cover featuring the many different faces of Latinos with the words "Yo Decido: Why Latinos will pick the next president." As the presidential election gets closer, it's becoming...

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Four Women Art Collectives Empowering the Community

(0) Comments | Posted March 15, 2012 | 9:02 AM

By Kamren Curiel

I dedicate this AMP piece to Women's History Month, which celebrates the positive contributions of women throughout the month of March. There are so many dope women doing amazing things in our community, so I decided to highlight a few collectives here. Check them out:

...
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African Americans and Latinos Unite in Alabama to Fight for Immigrant Rights

(27) Comments | Posted March 12, 2012 | 7:29 AM

 By Refugio Mata

"We're not going to allow them to treat people like slaves," Linda Dent of Los Angeles told Univision before leaving for Selma, Alabama. "Those days are over. We fought very hard to have the freedom we have today to vote."

Dent alluded to her days...

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My Immigrant Story (25 Years Later)

(71) Comments | Posted March 10, 2012 | 5:41 AM

By Yándary K. Zavala

A long, long time ago, in a country far away, two people got married.

He went to university and worked in the accounting department of a big department store. She also took university classes and owned her own beauty salon. A few years later, they...

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