Univision News Anchor Jorge Ramos: 'No One Can Make It to the White House Without the Hispanic Vote'
Eligible Latinos are being rallied to undergo voter registration in time for this year's presidential election. Now, Univision has joined the movement with an initiative that aims to register about three million new Latino voters this year.
The company's initiative, along with its Spanish-language TV network and other subsidiaries, will roll out an aggressive array of advertisements on all of Univision's video and digital platforms. This also includes 126 local television and radio stations and the sports channel Univision Deportes.
The movement will also encompass Univision's digital properties like Fusion, a platform that caters to millennials. Univision will also have a "multicultural effort" together with The Root, a digital property centered on African-American issues.
Station managers will encourage its audience through traditional editorials while a broad online voter guide will be updated during the election season. Univision will also utilize the same type of grassroots organizing events commonly carried out by candidates. These efforts will hopefully turn its Hispanic audience to a powerhouse voting bloc.
"The rule is no one can make it to the White House without the Hispanic vote," said Jorge Ramos, Univision's news anchor. "That's why Latino registration is incredibly important. Just a few votes in Nevada, Florida and Colorado could make or break any candidate."
This summer, the company will perform voter drives near the stadiums that will be hosting the Copa América soccer tournaments. Univision will run public service announcements during the broadcasts of the matches, which are projected to reach millions of people.
"We just kind of told ourselves, if our population is on the move, then it's more important than ever for us to participate at rates higher than we have," said Roberto Llamas, the network's executive vice president.
Univision's mission, aside from informing and entertaining people, is to "empower the Hispanic community." Although the community shares a language, they don't have one ethnicity or national origin. For the company, empowering these people serve as a rallying force and unifies the community's voice.
Univision's Initiative a Ruse?
Despite Univision's good intentions, the initiative could be hurt by the constant accusations claiming that its advocacy leans towards the Democratic Party. The firm is co-owned by Haim Saban, one of Hillary Clinton's top financial supporters, while Ramos has had public arguments with GOP candidate Donald Trump. With this, there are claims that Univision's effort is actually a Democratic voter-mobilization in disguise.
The network stressed that it is nonpartisan and the voter registration drive aimed at 27 million Latinos who have eligibility to vote will be agnostic as to political party.
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