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GenerASIAN Next! The Power of 1 Million New Asian American Voters!
by Elena Ong
Americanchronicle.com 10/5/06
On September 10, 2006, activists across the nation pledged to recruit 1 million Latino voters. Some say impossible. I say it can be done, because it has been done.
The New Millennium marked a “New Awakening” in American politics. In just one presidential cycle (between 2000 to 2004), our nation experienced an exponential increase in Asian American civic participation, by empowering nearly 1 million Newly Registered Asian American Voters nationwide, 6% of all newly registered voters nationwide.
California is home to 39% of all Asian American voters in America, and it is said, how California goes, could go the nation. So take heed. According to the 2005 American Community Survey, 2.5 million Asian Americans in California are eligible to vote. In California, more than 1 million registered Asian Americans in California voted (1.1 million to be more precise) in the 2004 Presidential election, but 200,000+ Asian Americans who were registered to vote, did not. Worse, California missed out its true potential: 1 to 1.2 million Asian American U.S. Citizens who were eligible to vote, but needed to be registered, and turned out, to vote.
Are there any seismic changes that could “Change the Face” of California’s political landscape, and the fate of California’s Electoral College votes? You bet.
For the first time in California’s history, an unprecedented number of Asian American candidates will be on the California ballot: 26 overall – 14 Democrats, 11 Republicans & 1 Libertarian. Will they all 26 Asian American candidates win? No.
Because 4 are running against each other in Asian American vs. Asian American races, many of the Republicans are running in Democratic enclaves, and several Democrats and Libertarians are running in Republican enclaves.
So why run? To empower Asian Americans? Yes! Asian Americans will register and vote in large numbers.
Asian Americans will register and vote in large numbers on November 7 because Asian Americans have a stake in electing candidates who will champion their issues: language access, civil rights, immigration, economic opportunity, retirement security, health, environment and public safety.
Yes! Asian Americans will increase the political representation of Asian Americans.
Asian Americans know that in this election, the power of the Asian American vote is more than “just one vote.” Asian Americans know their collective power will escalate the power and political representation of Asian Americans in Congressional, State Constitutional and State Legislative office.
By the end of the day, Election Day that is, the number of Asian Americans in elected office in California could increase from13 seats (10 Democrats & 3 Republicans) to 14 - 16 seats (a mix of Democrats & Republicans).
But the real reason?
While the Asian American vote is a hot commodity because Asian Americans are California’s 3rd largest vote bloc, it is important to recognize that Asian Americans are not a monolith, and Asian Americans don’t always vote as one bloc.
What is important is how Asian Americans will vote on November 7, because how they vote will affect the outcome at the top of the ticket in 2006, and the outcome of the 2008 Presidential election.
The November 2006 election is a mid-term election, not a “winner takes all” Electoral College election, so every Asian American’s vote will count, regardless of where Asian Americans vote, and which Asian American candidate wins or loses at the local level.
In other words, every Asian American running in local races and at the base of the State ticket will generate votes for the top of the ticket in 2006. Who wins at the top of the ticket could influence the direction of California’s Electoral College votes, and the 2008 Presidential outcome. For example, in 2004, 64% of California's Asian American voters voted for John Kerry and 34% voted for George Bush.
Who in 2006 and 2008 will win?
The candidate who registers the greatest number of voters, and turns them out to vote, in-person and by absentee vote, by November 7.
Candidates traditionally focus on turning out high propensity voters – e.g., the 1.1 million registered Asian American voters who turned out to vote in 2004. They might even focus on turning out the occasional or infrequent voter – e.g., the 200,000+ registered Asian American non-voters. But the candidate, who will win by a landslide, will do so because s/he registered and turned out 1 million New Asian American Voters.
Winning in 2006 and 2008. That is the potential of 1 million new Asian American voters.
To empower American Democracy, Asian Americans must aim for our full potential – 12% of the vote in 2006, 13% of the vote by 2008, and 14% of the vote by 2010.
We must:
Educate & Turn Out all 1.3 Million Asian American Registered Voters:
Carry In-Language Permanent Absentee Voter Registration Forms in your briefcase, purse, backpack or car. Get every Asian American you meet to vote Permanent Absentee. According to national statistics from Current Population Survey, 60% of registered Asian Americans didn’t vote in 2004 because: 31% were too busy, 12% were out of town, 7% were sick, 6% had an inconvenient polling place and 3% experienced bad weather/had no transportation. Had 60% of registered Asian American non-voters voted absentee, we could have had 120,000+ more Asian American votes.
Educate, Register and Turn Out 1 to 1.2 Million New Asian American Voters:
Carry In-Language Registration Forms and Permanent Absentee Voter Registration Forms in your briefcase, purse, backpack or car. Encourage people to register to vote by 10-10, or no later than Halloween. According to the 2004 U.S. Census Current Population Survey, 6% of registered Asian American voters didn’t vote because of registration problems, 4% didn’t like the candidates/issues and 8% were not interested. Engage potential voters by organizing “Candidate/Issue” Forums so voters understand what’s at stake. Organize before the sample ballots get mailed between 10-10 and 10-17. Eliminate barriers that discourage full participation. Make people aware of the Asian American organizations that can help them register to vote in their county in-language. Download sample In-Language Voter Registration and Permanent Absentee Voter Registration Forms from www.lavote.net, or get connected to register in California’s 57 other counties via http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_m.htm. Ask a government agency or donor to sponsor the insertion of in-language registration forms in the ethnic media and in community stores and agencies.
Take Action by Key Dates: 10-10, Halloween & November 7:
By October 10 (10-10), encourage Asian Americans to register to vote or register to vote permanent absentee, so the County Registrar can send them an in-language Vote By Mail Ballot . If people miss the 10-10 window of opportunity, make sure they register to vote no later than 10-23, and/or register to vote permanent absentee no later than Halloween (10-31). Most important, follow up, and make sure they vote in person on November 7 by offering a ride to the polls, or send, or deliver, their completed Vote By Mail Ballot to any polling location by 8 PM, November 7.
Make sure no Asian American vote is forgotten or left behind.
Organize an Educational Roundtable at Agencies, Clubs, Schools, Hospitals and Nursing Homes, so Asian American voters can receive unbiased in-language information about the issues/candidates by 10-10 through November 7. Remind newly registered absentee voters to send in their completed Permanent Absentee Ballot so it’s received by November 7. According to Chinese American Voter Education Committee, Asian Americans in San Francisco cast 45% of all absentee ballots, compared to 30%, their proportion of registered voters. Organize a “Get Out the Asian American Vote" In-Language Mobile Vote Van that stops at community centers, nursing homes, etc., an "Asian American to Asian American” Phone Bank, or a “Neighbor to Neighbor” Precinct Canvass Operation to contact voters between 10-10 and November 7. Make sure exit polls are conducted in-language so researchers can count the number of Asian Americans who vote at the polls, as well as the Asian Americans who vote by mail. It’s important that the public, and political pundits, not misjudge the power and direction of the Asian American vote, simply because the vote was undercounted.
Protect the vote.
Make sure every eligible Asian American casts their vote, and that every Asian American vote is counted, as it was cast.
Volunteer to “poll watch” and “absentee poll watch” to ensure vote integrity and that Asian Americans are not being turned away at the polls because of the lack of language assistance, lack of in-language ballots, confusion regarding Asian surnames, and racial/ethnic/foreign-born profiling.
Acknowledge the Volunteers, Unions, Donors, Foundations, Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and other governmental agencies for investing their time, and millions of dollars, to Get Out the Asian American vote.
Because of their commitment, non-profit and non-partisan Asian American and multi-ethnic/racial non-partisan, and grassroots organizations are able to provide a social return on their investment by empowering Democracy and the Asian American vote by:
- Conducting citizenship training and providing language assistance;
- Training in-language volunteers to register new voters and permanent absentee voters in English, Cambodian*, Chinese, Japanese*, Korean, Laotian*, Tagalog and/or Vietnamese (*The County is not required to provide in-language registration forms and ballots in Cambodian, Japanese, Laotian and other Asian languages if the number of Limited English Proficient Asian speakers does not exceed a specified level, which is all the more reason why in-language volunteers are needed to assist potential voters who are more proficient in Asian languages not covered by Section 203 in their respective county);
- Working with the County Registrar of Voters to translate and distribute in-language voter registration forms, permanent absentee forms and ballots in the relevant languages for each precinct;
- Working with non-profit agencies & businesses to distribute in-language voter registration and permanent absentee voter forms in the ethnic media;
- Working with the Ethnic & Mainstream Media to organize and cover “Issue and/or Candidate” Forums, and developing in-language PSAs and getting them aired on Ethnic & Mainstream Radio and Cable TV;
- Getting Out the Asian American Vote/Permanent Absentee Vote by creating detailed voter files so in-language volunteers can turn out new/absentee and low and high-propensity voters via voting parties, the internet, phone banks, door-to-door canvassing and other modalities, precinct by precinct;
- Protecting the vote by providing language assistance at the polls, poll watching and exit polling.
Most of all, thank, donate your time, and refer Asian Americans, to the community organizations that empower and protect the Asian American vote in California, and beyond :
APIA Vote!
Asian Law Alliance – ALA*
Asian Law Caucus – ALC*
Asian-American Voter Project ** (a collaborative of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center - APALC, Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment - CAUSE, Filipino American Service Group, Inc. - FASGI, Khmer Girls in Action, Korean American Coalition - KAC, Korean Resource Center - KRC, Organization of Chinese Americans Los Angeles – OCA-LA, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans – SIPA & South Asian Network - SAN)
Asian Americans for Community Involvement - AACI
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance – APALA ****
Asian Pacific American Caucus of San Diego
Asian Pacific Environmental Network – APEN
Asian Pacific Americans for Progress
Asian Pacific Islander Community Education Foundation – API-CEF***
Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition – BAIRC (Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Project)
California Partnership – CAP (Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Project)
Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment – CAUSE
Chinatown Community Development Center – CCDC
Chinatown Service Center – CSC
Chinese American Citizens Alliance – CACA
Chinese American Political Association – CAPA
Chinese American Voter Education Committee – CAVEC
Chinese for Affirmative Action – CAA
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles – CHIRLA (Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Project)
Council of Asian Pacific Islander Together for Advocacy and Leadership – CAPITAL
Council of Pacific American Organizations – COPAO
Filipino American Service Group, Inc – FASGI (Asian American Voter Project)
Filipino American Voter Initiative - FAVI
Filipino Community Center – FCC
Filipinos for Affirmative Action – FAA
Japanese American Citizens League – JACL
Khmer Girls in Action – KGA (Asian American Vote Project)
Korean American Coalition (Korean American Vote Campaign & Asian American Vote Project)
Korean American Federation
Korean American Vote Campaign (Korean American Coalition - KAC, Korean Resource Center – KRC & NAKASEC)
Korean Resource Center (Korean American Vote Campaign & Asian American Vote Project)
Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Project *** (a collaborative of collaboratives committed to empowering the immigrant vote: Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition - BAIRC, California Partnership - CAP, Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights of Los Angeles - CHIRLA, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights’ Bridge Project – NNIRR, Partnership for Immigration Leadership and Action – PILA, and Services, Immigration Rights & Education Network - SIREN)
NAKASEC (Korean American Vote Campaign & Asian American Vote Project)
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights – NNIRR (Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Project)
LA 80-20****
National Congress of Vietnamese Americans – NAVA
National Federation of Filipino American Associations – NaFFAA
Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance – OCAPICA
Organization of Chinese Americans Los Angeles – OCA LA (Asian American Vote Project)
Partnership for Immigration Leadership and Action – PILA (Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Project)
PowerPAC
Search to Involve Pilipino Americans – SIPA (Asian American Vote Project)
Services, Immigration Rights & Education Network – SIREN (Mobilize the Immigrant Vote Project)
South Asian American Voting Youth – SAAVY
South Asian Network – SAN (Asian American Vote Project)
San Diego API Alliance
UCSD APIA Vote Alliance
Vietnamese American Council – VAC
Vietnamese American Youth Alliance – VAYA
and many other organizations that not yet listed.
This is just a start point. Let’s add to this list.
Asian Americans Can Decide the Outcome of the 2006 Election –
But Only If We Begin Today, and Not Wait Until November 7 to Start.
Starting October 10, permanently registered California voters will receive their absentee ballots and the 2006 General Election count begins.
If Asian Americans want to decide the outcome of the election, we have to start now to register 1 million new Asian American voters in California, and swing more independent voters, to vote. Absentee voting is the way to go because 60% of all Asian Americans who didn’t vote in 2004 gave reasons that could have been solved by voting absentee. By aiming high, Asian Americans can reach their full potential, 12% of the electorate in 2006, and 13% by 2008, and in the end, determine whom among Asian Americans and non-Asian Americans will win.
The Sleeping Giant has awoken! In terms of votes, and in terms of political representation. But our work has just begun. It’s up to us to make sure that the Giant doesn’t return to sleep or take a nap!
Elena Ong is a Public Affairs & Policy Consultant, a Board Member of www.SheVotes.org and a Past Commissioner, California Commission for Women.