For Immediate Release
May 5, 2006

SVREP LAUNCHES MILLION DOLLAR YOUTH CAMPAIGN SVREP to register and mobilize 100,000 sons and daughters of immigrants

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP) today launched a million dollar voter registration and get-out-the-vote Youth Campaign that will target the sons and daughters of immigrants. The campaign will take the initiative of seeking out youth whose community and family will be affected by the proposed, punitive immigration legislation.

Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), a day of celebration and historic meaning for Latinos in the United States, was selected to kick-off the Youth Campaign for its symbolism in the community. The Youth Campaign will register and mobilize 100,000 new young Latino voters – the sons and daughters of many disenfranchised voters in the U.S.

“The timing for this campaign will crystallize the momentum,” said Antonio González, SVREP President. “Participation by Latino youth in the marches and rallies for immigration reform demonstrates how prepared they are to seek political change,” he added.

The multiphase, multimedia, campaign will capture the imagination of these young voters. Today, there are an estimated 2.3 million young men and women between the ages of 18 to 24 who are citizens and ready to vote. Studies show that one million American citizens, who are Latinos and eligible to vote, turn 18 every year.

The Youth Campaign will register 100,000 of these Latino youth in a national nonpartisan effort. SVREP will focus on the communities actively involved in the immigration reform demonstrations of May 1st.

“Using strategies geared toward them, and combining it with modern technology, SVREP will register and mobilize 100,000 Latino youth in preparation for the 2006 general elections,” said Lydia Camarillo, SVREP Vice President. “Young people understand that you hold those who govern accountable at the ballot box. In 2006 and beyond, as they showed in record numbers in 2004, they will be decisive in who wins or loses on Election Day,” added Camarillo.

The campaign’s theme will challenge Latino youth to become the voice for respect and dignity with their voting power. Or, as the SVREP motto states: “SU VOTO ES SU VOZ”.

Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP) is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to the political empowerment of Latino communities through the use of some of the most powerful tools of American democracy: voter registration, voter education and voter participation. SVREP was established in 1974 by the late William C. Velásquez to encourage civic and political participation in Latino and other underrepresented communities. Since its inception, SVREP has registered over 2.3 million Latino voters throughout the Southwest and other parts of the country. SVREP has offices in San Antonio, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and Miami, Florida.