Asian American voters played no small role in the election of Georgia's two new senators, according to a preliminary report by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
According to preliminary results of the AALDEF multilingual exit poll on Jan. 5, Asian American voters in Georgia favored both Democratic candidates 2 to 1 over their GOP rivals. Rafael Warnock earned 64% of the vote and Jon Ossoff 68% in the Jan. 5 Senate runoff elections.
AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung said: “Asian American voters played a critical role in electing Warnock and Ossoff in two extremely close races that will result in Democratic control of the U.S. Senate. Asian American voters must no longer be ignored in the political process.”
AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung said: “Asian American voters played a critical role in electing Warnock and Ossoff in two extremely close races that will result in Democratic control of the U.S. Senate. Asian American voters must no longer be ignored in the political process.”
By flipping the two Senate seats, Democrats will have the majority in the Senate. There will be 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans. Vice President Kamala Harris will cast the deciding vote. With control of the Senate, it will be easier for Democrats to pass Biden's policies, most of which would undo or correct Donald Trump's policies particularly on climate change, immigration, health care and foreign relations.
Biden's biggest challenge, though, will be taking control of the coronavirus pandemic that has been ravaging the country and the rest of the world. Trump's mishandling of the virus has resulted in 363,000 deaths due to COVID-19.
The allies of young Black, Latino and Asian American progressives turned Georgia, usually a Republican stronghold, into a battleground state by awarding it's electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden last November and this Jan. 5, giving the state's two Senate seats to Democrats Warnock and Ossoff.
Key to the new powerful coalition was waking up the Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate, getting them interested in Georgia's politics and getting them excited enough to vote in droves. About 22% of the AAPI voters cast their ballot for the first time.
Key to the new powerful coalition was waking up the Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate, getting them interested in Georgia's politics and getting them excited enough to vote in droves. About 22% of the AAPI voters cast their ballot for the first time.
Many AAPI voters live in the counties north of Atlanta, areas that were among the last to be counted. The results from those suburban voters put Ossoff and Warneck ahead of their GOP opponents where they stayed up until the final count.
AALDEF has conducted its Asian American Exit Poll and monitored polling places in every major election since 1988. This year, AALDEF’s Exit Poll and Poll Monitoring program faced many challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, mail-in voting, and early voting–all of which created challenges for interacting with voters in real time on Election Day, as has been done in past elections.
In the Georgia runoff elections, AALDEF volunteers polled more than 270 Asian Americans in Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Fulton counties.
Jerry Vattamala, AALDEF Democracy Program Director, said, “One issue we observed in the runoff elections was that hundreds of voters of color, including Asian American voters, were turned away and told they were at incorrect poll sites. This was particularly egregious where the site to which they were directed was closed. We will continue to work with election officials to investigate these serious voting problems.”
Of all of Georgia's AAPI voters surveyed:
• 29% were Korean, 23% were Asian Indian, 14% were Vietnamese, 13% were Chinese, 8% were Bangladeshi, 4% were Pakistani, and 8% were an Other Asian ethnicities and nationalities.
• 23% were native-born U.S. citizens and 77% were foreign-born naturalized citizens.
• 22% were first-time voters and 78% had voted in previous elections.
• 44% were registered Democrats, 24% were registered Republicans, 28% were independant voters, and 4% were enrolled in another party.
• 33% of all voters were limited English proficient (LEP) and 67% were English proficient.
• 53% were female and 47% were male.
Increased Support for Democratic Senate Candidates in Runoff Elections
Asian American support for Warnock and Ossoff this Jan. 5 appears to have increased from the support that given to the two challengers and Joe Biden received in the November 2020 Presidential election.
Jerry Vattamala, AALDEF Democracy Program Director, said, “One issue we observed in the runoff elections was that hundreds of voters of color, including Asian American voters, were turned away and told they were at incorrect poll sites. This was particularly egregious where the site to which they were directed was closed. We will continue to work with election officials to investigate these serious voting problems.”
Of all of Georgia's AAPI voters surveyed:
• 29% were Korean, 23% were Asian Indian, 14% were Vietnamese, 13% were Chinese, 8% were Bangladeshi, 4% were Pakistani, and 8% were an Other Asian ethnicities and nationalities.
• 23% were native-born U.S. citizens and 77% were foreign-born naturalized citizens.
• 22% were first-time voters and 78% had voted in previous elections.
• 44% were registered Democrats, 24% were registered Republicans, 28% were independant voters, and 4% were enrolled in another party.
• 33% of all voters were limited English proficient (LEP) and 67% were English proficient.
• 53% were female and 47% were male.
Increased Support for Democratic Senate Candidates in Runoff Elections
Asian American support for Warnock and Ossoff this Jan. 5 appears to have increased from the support that given to the two challengers and Joe Biden received in the November 2020 Presidential election.
In AALDEF’s Exit Poll in Georgia in November 2020:
• Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 62% to 36%.
• In the U.S. Senate races with identical candidates in November, Asian Americans voted for the Democratic candidates over the Republicans by a margin of 61% to 34%.
• All Asian ethnic groups in the state supported Biden over Trump except for Korean American voters (60% for Trump and 39% for Biden).
• Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakout was 63% for Biden and 30% for Trump, and among voters affiliated with other parties, 60% for Biden and 20% for Trump.
• First-time voters supported Biden by a wide margin of 61% to 36%.
AALDEF will release a more detailed analysis of its exit poll numbers soon, with specific data related to ethnicity, gender, age, language ability, and nativity, among other data points. Special thanks to all of our volunteers and community partners, particularly the Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS) in Atlanta, for their many years of service to the Asian American community.
Stephanie Cho, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Atlanta chapter, told the Post that Asian Americans are the "new electorate." She believes the AAPI vote helped the campaigns of Ossof and Warnock in upsetting the Republican incumbents.
"Us, along with Black women voters, along with Latino voters, along with young people, really have changed the trajectory of what Georgia looks like," said Cho.
• Asian Americans decisively chose Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 62% to 36%.
• In the U.S. Senate races with identical candidates in November, Asian Americans voted for the Democratic candidates over the Republicans by a margin of 61% to 34%.
• All Asian ethnic groups in the state supported Biden over Trump except for Korean American voters (60% for Trump and 39% for Biden).
• Among voters not enrolled in any party, the breakout was 63% for Biden and 30% for Trump, and among voters affiliated with other parties, 60% for Biden and 20% for Trump.
• First-time voters supported Biden by a wide margin of 61% to 36%.
AALDEF will release a more detailed analysis of its exit poll numbers soon, with specific data related to ethnicity, gender, age, language ability, and nativity, among other data points. Special thanks to all of our volunteers and community partners, particularly the Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS) in Atlanta, for their many years of service to the Asian American community.
Stephanie Cho, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Atlanta chapter, told the Post that Asian Americans are the "new electorate." She believes the AAPI vote helped the campaigns of Ossof and Warnock in upsetting the Republican incumbents.
"Us, along with Black women voters, along with Latino voters, along with young people, really have changed the trajectory of what Georgia looks like," said Cho.
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