Celebrities Like Wilmer Valderrama, Rosario Dawson Join $5M Initiative To Boost Latino Voter Turnout

Voto Latino Foundation launched a five million dollar campaign on Tuesday, featuring celebrities like Wilmer Valderrama, Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, Danny Lux, Jessica Alba, Gina Torres and Xochitl Gomez to encourage Latinos to vote in the upcoming election.

The campaign, called "Vota Con Ganas" (which means "Vote with Enthusiasm"), will include personal stories and messages from the Latino community, AP News reported,

Voto Latino Foundation has teamed up with over 170 college campus groups to hold voter registration events and online activities during Hispanic Heritage Month, which will end on Oct. 15. The campaign is also being supported by more than 300 organizations, including the NFL, Universal Music and Sony.

It will also have voter registration events, workshops, social media campaigns and videos from celebrities, all focused on showing how important voting is and how much power the Latino vote has in this election.

Since the last presidential election, Latinos have grown at the second-fastest rate among major racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., after Asian Americans, according to Pew Research. They are expected to make up 14.7%, or 36.2 million, of all eligible voters in this presidential election, which is a new record.

According to the 2020 census, Latinos make up 19.5% of the U.S. population, and are the largest minority group in the country, making them an important voting group in what is expected to be a close presidential election.

Valderrama, responsible for making and directing the campaign videos, said that Latinos have always been an important part of the country, and now it was time for them to have a voice in decision-making.

"The Ganas campaign aims to reinvite our Latino community to vote for their future," he said, AP News reported. "Every decade the Latino community continues to grow in so many aspects of our country. We contribute in so many different ways and It's critical that we own and celebrate our contributions to what's possible for us here."

Dawson, a foundation board member, said that Latinos, especially young people, needed to organize their community, since there will be many first-time voters.

"We have the power to decide. We could literally change the tide," Dawson said. "'Vota con Ganas' means to register, vote, volunteer, and own this election, because it is yours to take."

Last month, the League of United Latin American Citizens reportedly decided to request a federal investigation into the raids carried out by Attorney General Ken Paxton, which, according to the agency, were conducted "to suppress the Latino vote" ahead of the 2024 elections.