Michael Bloomberg talks to supporters, Tuesday, February 4, 2020 in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
On Thursday, Voto Latino announced a $500,000 donation from Mike Bloomberg that will help fund its efforts to register 500,000 new voters this election cycle.
“This investment will support efforts to enfranchise one million young Latinx voters across Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, among other key states come November,” Voto Latino said in a release. NBC News first reported news of the announcement.
Since the start of the Democratic primaries, Voto Latino ran a digital voter registration program that has registered more than 81,000 people, provided 13,000 rides to the polls, and made more than 88,000 voter contacts to date. Seventy five percent of those registered are between 18 to 34 years olds.
“This $500,000 donation will go directly towards Voto Latino’s efforts to expand the electoral base. The organization has set a goal of registering half a million new voters this year and mobilizing one million low propensity voters by Election Day 2020,” Voto Latino added.
“Four million young people who heard the president call their loved ones criminals and rapists have come of age since those terrible remarks and will be eligible to cast a vote for the very first time this November,” said Maria Teresa Kumar, President and CEO of Voto Latino.
“Latinx voters will make up the second-largest voting bloc for the first time in US history and they will cast their ballots in November to protect their community. Our democracy is only as strong as our participation within it. We welcome Bloomberg’s partnership in this fight,” she added.
“President Trump has spent four years attacking and slandering Latino communities, but in November, Latinos will have a chance to make their voices heard,” Bloomberg said in the release. “We need to make sure that Latinos who are eligible to vote are registered and that we get them to the polls—and I’m supporting Voto Latino to help achieve both goals.
“Voto Latino —along with other voter registration and protection groups I’m supporting, including Collective Future and Fair Fight— will play a critical role in the November election, and the voters they mobilize could prove to be the difference in races up and down the ballot,” he added.
In 2018, Voto Latino registered over 202,000 voters—77% who cast a vote, including 15% of all new voters in Texas.
