PBS SoCal, Southern California’s flagship PBS station, and Latino Public Broadcasting explore the priorities of a politically diverse Latino electorate in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election in Latino Vote 2024. This one-hour documentary focuses on the key issues driving Latino voter turnout in some of the most contested battleground states, including Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, as well as California and Florida, two states with large Latino populations.
Directed by three-time Emmy-nominated Mexican-American filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz (El Equipo), the documentary will have its broadcast premiere on PBS on Tuesday, October 22 (check local listings), as part of the documentary series VOCES, featuring the best of Latino arts, culture, and history and shining a light on current issues that impact Latino Americans. The broadcast will be accompanied by a multiplatform initiative featuring a series of digital shorts. The feature and shorts will also be available to stream on pbs.org and the PBS App.
Latino Vote 2024, a spiritual sequel to Ruiz's acclaimed 2020 film Latino Vote: Dispatches from the Battleground, is more relevant than ever, as both Republican and Democratic campaigns aggressively court Latino voters, who are projected to make up 14.7% of the electorate. Produced by Emmy-winning filmmaker Andrés Cediel and award-winning filmmaker and investigative reporter Marcia Robiou, the film delves into the strategies both parties employ to reach Latino voters—not only to win elections but also to build long-term political power.
The documentary closely examines key trends in battleground states. In Arizona, what was once a Republican stronghold has transformed over the last decade, with a new generation of organizers engaging Latino voters in response to an abortion ban. In California, home to one of the largest and youngest Latino populations, fueled by a growing number of people turning 18 every year, sees candidates targeting youth and digital engagement amid economic anxiety, political polarization, and a backlash against civil rights.
Accompanying the hour-long broadcast feature is a set of digital shorts produced in collaboration with the California Local News Fellowship, administered by the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, and in partnership with participating local news outlets. These films, available to stream online, explore the intersecting identities within the Latinx vote, including youth, Afro-Latinx, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+, as well as the role of farmworkers, mechanics, and the growing influence of political corridos on TikTok.
Latino voters across the country are incredibly diverse—spanning young and old, Democrats, Republicans, and undecideds. Ruiz and team provide an up-to-the-minute look at the issues and concerns of this often misunderstood community. Through interviews with activists, evangelical leaders, and Republican candidates, Latino Vote 2024 offers a timely and nuanced look at the struggles both parties face in courting the largest minority voting bloc in the U.S.
