Survey says AAPI voters favoring Democrats Biden and Harris

Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, growing in numbers and influence, are heavily favoring Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, for President and Vice President, respectively, according to a new survey.

The 2020 Asian American Voter Survey released today by Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), and AAPI Data show the results of a 2020 survey on Asian American attitudes on issues from the upcoming election and discrimination in America to healthcare concerns around COVID-19 and support for affirmative action. 

“Asian Americans saw a record high level of midterm election turnout in 2018,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor of public policy founder and director of AAPI Data, adding that “with a majority saying that they are even more enthusiastic than usual about this election suggests that we will see record turnout for Asian Americans for a presidential election in 2020.” 

Among the highlights of the report:

• Biden, the Democratic nominee for President, was strongly favored among all national origin groups surveyed, except Vietnamese Americans. 
• Among Vietnamese registered voters, support is higher for Trump (48%) than Biden (36%). 
• Indian Americans are the most inclined to vote for Biden among all Asian American groups (66%). 
• At the same time, 14% of Asian American registered voters remained undecided about their presidential vote choice, with Chinese Americans (22%) exhibiting the highest proportion of voters who said they were “undecided.”

Partisanship likely drives these group differences among Asian Americans. Vietnamese Americans were the only Asian American group surveyed that leans more Republican (38% ) than Democrat (28%) with a large proportion of those who identify as non-partisan (34%) 

One explanation for the outlier role of the Vietnamese American electorate is that a majority of the immigrants from Vietnam arrived as refugees fleeing what they feared would be a socialist takeover of South Vietnam. Much like the older Cubans who fled communist Cuba, the Vietnamese tend to vote against any candidate with an inkling of being a socialist, a description that Republicans have tried to pin on Democrats with uneven results.

Since 2000, immigrants from Asian have outpaced immigrants coming from Mexico and as the newly arrived transition into American citizens, their vote is becoming more of a critical factor, especially in districts heavily populated by Asian Americans. As the Asian American electorate continues to grow, the group stands to play a significant role in political races at the national, state, and local levels. 

Providing more good news for Democrats running for office, majorities of Asian American registered voters also said they will support Democratic over Republican candidates in House and Senate races, where AAPI voters could exert more influence, especially in races in Southern California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and New Jersey. Again, the exception to this trend of Democratic support were Vietnamese American voters, who on the whole are more likely to support Republican candidates for House and Senate than Democratic candidates. 

Yet, most Asian American voters are still reporting little to no outreach from either political party. 

“The survey shows that more than half of voters are reporting little or no contact from either major party,” said Christine Chen, executive director of APIAVote, “Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the country and we’ve seen voters make an impact at the polls. 

According to the data, 54% of Asian American voters plan to vote by mail or absentee, meaning we need to make sure voters are requesting their ballots, voting early when possible, and given access to any language assistance they are entitled to. Campaigns must make investments to engage this key voting bloc as we work to make sure voters are prepared to cast their ballot this November.” 

“Through this survey we see that Asian Americans are ready to exercise their power to vote in person or by mail so it is imperative that we step up our language access efforts and encourage jurisdictions to give our communities every opportunity to access the ballot box,” said John C. Yang, Advancing Justice – AAJC president and executive director. 

“Voting isn’t the only issue top of mind for Asian Americans, we also see an increase in support for affirmative action since our 2018 survey. In addition, at least 2 out of 3 people view immigration as extremely or very important in the election, with majorities supporting expanding access to health coverage to all people regardless of immigration status, and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.” 

Support for affirmative action and immigration were not the only areas of interest for Asian Americans. The respondents from all the ethnic groups were in favor of gun control. In addition, the survey data provides a clear snapshot on how Asian American voters feel about several different issues, including healthcare, jobs and the economy. 

Although enthusiastic about voting, Asian American registered voters also expressed some concerns about the upcoming election. Almost half (48%) said they often worry about the possibility of election interference in November. In addition, almost half worry about the health and safety of voting in-person at the polls due to COVID-19. Perhaps as a consequence, most Asian American registered voters (54%) said they prefer to vote by mail or vote by absentee ballot, rather than to vote in-person (26%) on Election Day. 

Asian American voters exhibit tremendous diversity in terms of characteristics like national origin, geographic region, religion, and English-langauge proficiency. At the same time, they demonstrate remarkable cohesion when it comes to their interest in health care and opinions related to immigration, the environment, guns and education. On many of these issues, Asian Americans lean progressive, favoring a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, stronger environmental protections, gun control, and affirmative action. They are likely to believe that the Democratic party handles most issues better than the Republican party, with the exception of taxes and “jobs and the economy.” 

Although enthusiastic about voting, Asian American registered voters also expressed some concerns about the upcoming election. Almost half (48%) said they often worry about the possibility of election interference in November. In addition, almost half worry about the health and safety of voting in-person at the polls due to COVID-19. Perhaps as a consequence, most Asian American registered voters (54%) said they prefer to vote by mail or vote by absentee ballot, rather than to vote in-person (26%) on Election Day. 

Political parties have yet to harness the power of the Asian American vote despite the fact that many remain persuadable. The 2020 Asian American Voter Survey shows that about half of all respondents were not contacted by either major party. With a higher than average response of voters who do not subscribe with either party, party outreach will be critical for Asian American voters.

“These new data demonstrate that, despite considerable diversity by ethnicity, the Asian American community is largely united when it comes to support for the social safety net, environmental protection, and gun control,” Janelle Wong, senior researcher at AAPI Data noted. “Organizations working on these issues need to make sure they include Asian Americans in their outreach,” she added

READ the entire 2020 Asian American Voter Survey.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.