‘We Count’ Campaign Seeks to Mobilize Largest Number of Latino Census-Takers in Texas History

Oct 29, 2019
2:48 PM

Artwork for the “Contamos/We Count” campaign (Via Jolt Initiative)

A media release shared on Tuesday afternoon from progressive political advocacy group Jolt Initiative announced that it has launched a 2020 U.S. Census “Contamos/We Count” campaign in the hopes of mobilizing “the largest number of Latino census-takers in Texas history.”

“Ensuring that all Texans are counted in the 2020 Census is a top priority for Jolt Initiative, given that the census plays a critical role in determining the allocation of federal resources and electoral representation. Through its Contamos/We Count campaign Jolt Initiative will reach 2.5 million Latinos through digital and earned communications strategies and an additional 250,000 Latino families on their door steps, in their houses of worship, and through direct mail in Texas,” the media release said.

The campaign will focus on trying to connect with “hard-to-reach Latinos in Austin, Houston, and Dallas.” According to Jolt, “these three metropolitan areas contain the highest percentages of foreign-born Latinos, the hardest-to-count Latinos in Texas.”

“The Census is a once in a decade opportunity to win our communities the resources and representation we deserve, and in 2020 we don’t intend to leave anyone uncounted,” Jolt’s interim executive director Antonio Arellano said in th release. “Latinos in Texas must stand up and fearlessly say we count! In light of the blatant attempt to intimidate Latinos through the citizenship question, it’s more important now than ever for our community to reject these strategic attempts to undercount us. Our campaign will show that Latinos cannot be scared into giving up our rights and representation. Too much is on the line.”

The organization said it plans to ramp up hiring of bilingual census canvassers starting in January.