Subject: WaPo: Univision draws 100,000 to voter registration drives in move to increase its political clout
From: "Garcia, Walter" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 10:54:03 -0700

Univision draws 100,000 to voter registration drives in move to increase its political clout<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/05/20/univision-draws-100000-to-voter-registration-drives-in-move-to-increase-its-political-clout/?postshare=7621463766710746&tid=ss_tw>

By Catherine Ho<http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/catherine-ho>

Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language broadcaster, has drawn more than 100,000 people to hundreds of voter registration and citizenship drives aimed at urging Latinos to vote.

The effort is part of the media company's push to expand its political reach in a year where the Latino vote could sway the outcome of the presidential race.

Univision announced in February it would seek to register three million new Latino voters - the estimated number of young Latinos who have turned 18 and become eligible to vote since 2012 - ahead of the November election.

[Let's be clear: Univision's 3 million Latino voter registration drive helps Democrats]

The network has since rolled out an aggressive public service and advertising campaign, in English and Spanish, on its 126 television and radio stations across the United States and social media platforms. And it is partnering with several Latino civil rights, political and advocacy groups to host town halls, staff community call centers, and launch a new texting tool that about 130,000 people from all 50 states have subscribed to.

So far, the push has drawn nearly 106,000 people to 145 citizenship workshops, forums, voter registration drives and other community events across the United States.

The initiative appears to be an unusual move for a media company. But Univision hasn't been shy about pushing back against presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, dropping the businessman's Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants from the air after Trump insulted Mexican immigrants by saying those crossing the border into the United States are rapists and drug dealers. The move prompted Trump to sue Univision for $500 million in a lawsuit that was settled in February.

And Univision's most visible public figure, Jorge Ramos, had a public dust-up with Trump last year, and was thrown out of a Trump press conference after demanding details about the candidate's deportation plan.

[Univision cuts all ties with Donald Trump over immigrant 'rapist' comments]

"We want to inform and empower our audience, not just entertain them," said Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, Univision's executive vice president of government relations and public policy. "As a media company, we have the ability to educate and tell people what's happening on air and off air ... We have the voice."

If successful, the media company could significantly alter the electorate in a way that would likely benefit presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump has insulted many Latinos by vowing to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and deport the more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country.

In 2012, the vast majority of Latinos, 71 percent, supported Barack Obama. A record 27.3 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in the 2016 presidential election, according to Pew Research.

[Trump's candidacy sparking 'a surge' in citizenship, voter applications]

The campaign is part of Univision's broader efforts to amplify its voice in Washington and beyond.

Over the last year, the company's in-house lobbying operation in D.C. has grown from two to five people.

In 2015, Herrera-Flanigan, who used to be a top partner at lobby firm Monument Policy Group, became Univision's first executive vice president of government and corporate affairs, overseeing lobbying before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies. The office this week added a new vice president of public policy - also a first for the company - Victoria Luxardo Jeffries, an attorney who represented Netflix, Google and other tech companies before the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department.

Earlier this year, Univision launched a new series of outreach events on Capitol Hill, inviting lawmakers and their staff to meet with its news directors. The effort is largely to raise the network's profile among politicians and to brief them on what to expect if they're appearing on the network - they don't have to speak Spanish, for example, Herrera-Flanigan said. More than 30 lawmakers' offices have participated from California, Nebraska, Texas and other states.

"It's informational, it's, 'Here's Univision 101 on dealing with your local station,' and answering questions that communications directors within congressional offices might have about the station and how we work,'" Hererra-Flanigan said.

"We're getting interest from states you wouldn't traditionally think of as having a high number of Hispanics. Members are recognizing the importance of Latinos to their communities, to political debates."

In its initial voter engagement push, Univision focused heavily on citizenship drives, as April was the last month eligible residents could submit forms to become a U.S. citizen and still vote in November.

On April 12, the network's national morning show, "Despierta America," featured segments encouraging viewers to call the citizenship hotline at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), one of Univision's partners in the voter engagement campaign.

Later that month, the show's co-host William Valdes held a Facebook Live session where he live-chatted with viewers about his own experience becoming a U.S. citizen. That day, the call center received about 20,000 calls, far exceeding the average 100 calls the center typically receives daily.

It is unclear how many new voters have registered as a direct result of Univision's activities.

Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have similarly launched voter registration drives in previous election years, urging businesses to encourage their employees to vote. Univision says its voter engagement effort is bipartisan - the company is not supporting any candidate.

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Walter Garcia
Western Regional Press Secretary
Democratic National Committee (DNC)
Email: [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>
Twitter: @WalterGarcia231<https://twitter.com/WalterGarcia231>
[SigDems]<http://www.democrats.org/>