APIAs Vote in Record Numbers November 2

Unprecedented Number of APIAs Voting and Organizing Toward Last Stretch to Turn Out and Protect the APIAVote

Release by APIAVote

Washington, DC – November 2 - With a few hours left before the polls close, Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIAs) are tirelessly mobilizing to ensure eligible voters are educated on important issues affecting the community and vote at their polls today.  An unprecedented number of APIAs have already cast their ballots via early and absentee voting, and millions more will race to the polls by today’s end, including legions of newly registered APIA voters.

Expecting an exponential population increase over the next decade, APIAs are gaining national political clout.  This election cycle the APIA community is exhibiting unparalleled excitement and proving to be a local force in several precincts and counties where the APIA population grows, registers and votes in states like Washington, Nevada Minnesota, Oregon, and Michigan.

In the last few weeks, local APIAVote coalitions in Seattle, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Portland phone banked over 40,000 APIAs, mailed more than 30,000 reminder postcards, held candidate and issue forums in the community, distributed election guides, voter bill of rights, and canvassed thousands of additional households this weekend as volunteers door knocked, literature dropped, and absentee ballot dropped.  Today, massive GOTV efforts continue with phone banking operations and transportation programs sending APIAs to the polls.

In Ann Arbor, APIAVote youth partners, the APIA Greek Alliance, National Asian American Student Conference, and South Asian American Voting Youth lead the voting outreach effort at the University of Michigan, where APIA youth voter interest in the election swells.  Groups coordinated with campus organizations to throw issue forums, dorm storms, phone bank, and mobilize a massive Get-Out-The-Vote campaign to change the state of APIA youth political participation.

Additionally, over 600 hundred Asian Pacific Islander American lawyers, students, and community volunteers nation-wide monitor elections in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia for Asian-language ballots, interpreters and other voting materials required under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, anti-Asian voter discrimination, and proper implementation of HAVA's new voter identification and verification requirements.

“The APIAVote campaign has been igniting the APIA community by educating, motivating, and registering APIA voters through our national and local partners since 1996.  Today, the APIA community is poised to swing elections as millions of APIAs are voting with heightened interest in the political process,” said Janelle Hu, APIAVote National Director. “We are no longer a discounted community as political parties and the media are looking to the APIA vote.“

Other Readings of Interest

• National Poll on Asian American Voters Shows Large Undecideds, Record Interest
  Release by APIAVote.org
  Poll by New California Media shows APAs favor Kerry, but 20% remain undecided; jobs, economy top concerns; most say 2004 may be "most important election of my lifetime"
• Asian Pacific Americans, Polls and the 2004 Election
  By CN Le, Asian-Nation
  In the barrage of election polls, it behooves us to recall the old saying: There are lies, there are damn lies, and then there are statistics
• Minorities Backed Kerry
  Reported by Jim Lobe at Inter Press Service News Agency
  Minority communities on Tuesday continued their trend of backing the Democratic candidate in the presidential vote, but re-elected George W Bush recorded several sizeable gains among many groups, according to the latest exit polls. [In new window]

APIAVote is a national coalition of non-partisan nonprofit organizations that encourages civic participation and promotes a better understanding of public policy and the electoral process among the Asian and Pacific Islander American community.  The national APIAVote partners are APIA Greek Alliance, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian American Online, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Hmong National Development, National Asian American Student Conference, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, Organization of Chinese Americans,  Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, South Asian American Voting Youth.  APIAVote was founded in 1996 and maintains its headquarters in Washington, D.C.