Ya Es Hora Campaign Launches Latest Phase of Historic Latino Voter Mobilization Efforts; Distributes Nearly 1 Million Voter Registration Cards – Multi-Phase Campaign Transitions This Week from Citizenship Drive to Engaging New Citizens to Register and Vote

Today, the ya es hora, ¡Ve Y Vota! (It’s Time, Go Vote!) campaign, which includes Entravision Communications, impreMedia, Mi Familia Vota Educational Fund, NALEO Educational Fund, National Council of La Raza and Univision Communications Inc., announced its plan to distribute nearly 1 million voter registration cards in communities across the country, making this the largest Latino voter registration effort of its kind in the nation’s history.

Between Friday, September 26th and Sunday, September 29th, impreMedia, the campaign’s print media partner, will insert voter registration cards into the company’s high-circulation Spanish-language newspapers in seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas.  In all, about 990,500 voter registration cards will be inserted and distributed across the country.

“Inserting voter registration cards into community newspapers will help us reach the 17 million Latinos eligible to vote this November by making the process more accessible,” said Monica Lozano, Senior Vice President of Newspapers for impreMedia.  “This is a service we are willing to provide to our readers knowing that they trust us to deliver the news and information they need to participate and make informed decisions related to this year’s critical election,” she concluded.

The voter registration card effort is being launched at the same time the campaign’s other media partners, Entravision and Univision Communications, are both aggressively promoting voter registration to their audiences on radio and television.

“During the first phase of the campaign we saw the significant impact that a multi-platform campaign can have in mobilizing the Hispanic community,” said Cesar Conde, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Univision Communications Inc.  “For Univision this effort is part of our more than 40 year legacy of working with organizations such as NALEO, NCLR and the other corporate partners to inform our audiences on the issues of most importance to our viewers. We know that because of Ya Es Hora Hispanics will be a deciding factor in electing the next president of the United States.”

Providing voter registration cards is the latest phase in a multi-faceted strategy being deployed to engage Latinos in the electoral process as part of the ya es hora, ¡Ve y Vota! (It’s Time, Go Vote!) campaign.  The campaign is a non-partisan national voter mobilization effort targeting millions of Latinos in 2008.  The effort seeks to significantly increase Latino voter registration turnout in the 2008 general election through an unprecedented multi-media campaign that encompasses grassroots, print and broadcast outreach.

The new campaign builds on the success of the ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía! campaign of 2007 in which 1.2 million Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) became U.S. citizens.  The ya es hora, ¡Ve Y Vota! campaign seeks to mobilize these new citizen voters and the Latino community to become full participants in the American political process.

Throughout the fall, there will be continuous election-related promotional activities and information from the campaign’s media partners as well as grassroots efforts with local partner organizations across the country led by Mi Familia Vota Educational Fund and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). Additionally, voters needing assistance with any aspect of the electoral process will have access to resources from the NALEO Educational Fund that not only provide voters with news and information through the www.veyvota.org website.  The organization has also launched a toll-free 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA bilingual hotline to connect voters with trained volunteers who can help answer questions, from registering to vote, to finding polling place locations, to assistance with Election Day problems and more.

“With its success in helping over 1.2 million legal permanent residents apply for citizenship, the ya es hora campaign is playing an important role in weaving these new citizens into the fabric of American society,” said Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the NALEO Educational Fund.  “Through our combined efforts again this fall, the ya es hora campaign partners are ensuring that these new citizens and the Latino community will be full participants in the American political process,” he concluded.

About the Ya Es Hora Campaign

The ya es hora campaign is an historic non-partisan campaign that was launched as the Latino community’s action-oriented follow-up to the mobilizations of 2006.  It is the largest and most comprehensive effort to incorporate Latinos as full participants in the American political process.”

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