MTV Tr3s and Voto Latino partner to encourage 2010 Census participation.

The 2010 US Census is coming up, and MTV Tr3s and Voto Latino want to help the U.S. Latino community “make it count”. The results of the 2010 census, will affect us all, from the national level (determining our representative numbers in Washington and influencing policy), all the way down to the community funding of our schools, emergency services and much more. The most effective way to make our voice heard on many of these important issues is to first accurately demonstrate the collective number of Latino voices in the United States. However, there are efforts already underway – utilizing innuendo and outright falsehoods, to dissuade members of the Latino Community from participating in the census.

In order to provide “the truth” about the significance of an accurate census count, MTV Tr3s and Voto Latino have partnered to create a series of awareness and myth-buster public service announcements. To deliver this essential information, the spots unite leading Latino film, television and music personalities such as Wilmer Valderrama, Ana Ortiz, Luis Guzmán, Jorge Garcia, Graciela Beltrán, Malverde and Voto Latino founder Rosario Dawson. Set to begin airing in mid-February, the PSA’s will deliver both an awareness of the importance of the census to the Latino community and also dispel many of the circulating falsehoods by providing a direct look at what is “the truth”, and what is “not true.”

“MTV Tr3s is always in direct dialogue with the bilingual/bicultural Latino youth in the United States,” explains MTV Tr3s General Manager/Executive Vice President José Tillán. “As a result of these conversations with our audience, we have made the Census 2010 one of the key social responsibility initiatives of the channel. MTV Tr3s is very happy to partner on this initiative with Voto Latino, an organization that has lead the efforts in empowering and educating the Latino community on numerous important issues.”

“By partnering with MTV Tr3s, who are at the forefront of Latino youth culture, we seek to reach and empower our audience, who are the gatekeepers in most Latino immigrant households. They open the mail, pay the bills and make key household decisions. Participation is crucial, and the act of not participating translates to an estimated loss of 10K per person in federal funds until the next census,” said, Rosario Dawson, actress and co-founder of Voto Latino. “I encourage everyone to watch these PSAs and then take the census pledge!”