Asians represent some of the fastest growing immigration groups in America, yet some voters in this expanding demographic believe they’re being neglected by the Trump and Clinton campaigns.
Asian Americans across the city are working to changing that narrative by using the presidential election to push community engagement and increase the power of their voice.
Asian Pacific Americans: Voting and Organizing to Increase Civic Engagement (APAVOICE) ran three-hour phone bank events on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 during which volunteers called Asian-Americans in two swing states, North Carolina and Florida, to remind them to vote Nov. 8.
“We need to stand up for ourselves during this election,” said Fiona Zhao, of the MinKwon Center for Community Action. “Our vote is our way of voicing that we matter and that in this election and beyond, we count too.”
From 2000 to 2012, North Carolina saw an 89.6 percent increase in the state’s Asian population, from 136,212 to 258,205, while Florida saw an increase of 75 percent, from 333,013 to 583,371, according to asiamattersforamerica.org.
This data helped spur the phone bank plan, which drew volunteers from the Chinese Progressive Association, the Bangladeshi American Community Development & Youth Service and other groups. Zhao said her organization reached out to Asian-American organizations in Florida and North Carolina, which conducted in-person get-out-the-vote campaigns the same days as the phone bank.
Dispelling False Perceptions
Mae Lee, the executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association, knows all about the door-to-door process. Over the past couple of months, Lee has participated in several outreach events to help Chinatown residents register to vote.
After the voter registration deadline, Lee said she worked to inform the first-time voters about sites that would tell them where they could cast their ballots and what to expect at the polls. “There are no breaks,” Lee said with a laugh.
Zhao said she believes there is a misconception that Asian Americans are uninterested in politics and pointed out the challenges that some Asian-American voters face. “For one, limited English proficiency prevents them from being able to attend voter education events, candidate forums, or even from reading the application to register to vote,” Zhao said.
She also noted an infamous Fox News video that made fun of Asians added to false perceptions.
“I hope we encourage (Asian) voters to be engaged in their community and local politics,” Zhao said. “Because voter engagement is just the first step toward better and improved civic engagement.”
