Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander voters are finally getting the attention they've wanted but they're not always getting the attention need.
Instead of receiving more information from the major political parties, AANHPI voters have been deluged with a garbage can full of disinformation.
Instead of getting praise for their increased political involvement, AANHPI voters are receiving threats and facing roadblocks to casting their ballots.
The 2022 National Poll of Asian American Non-Voters and Voters released May 30 found that one-in-six Asian American voters described feeling threatened when they went to the polls in 2022, though most Asian American voters generally found the voting process easy. When asked, non-voters reported that better candidates and more information on candidates might entice them to vote in future elections.
RELATED: Most AANHPI voters are Democrats, except Vietnamese“Asian Americans are the fastest growing electorate in the United States with more than 8.4 million who are registered to vote,” said Terry Ao Minnis, Senior Director of Census and Voting Programs at Advancing Justice – AAJC.
“This survey represents a unique study of Asian Americans’ experiences with voting and insight into why approximately 5.2 million Asian Americans have yet to register to vote.”
The 2022 National Poll of Asian American Non-Voters and Voters was conducted by BSP Research in the weeks following the 2022 midterm elections. The survey interviewed 2,100 Asian American voters and 700 non-voters about their views and experiences during the election.
“More than one-in-two voters reported encountering what they thought to be election-related misinformation at least 'somewhat often',” said Taeku Lee, lead researcher.
“This suggests that more research is needed to understand the relationship between misinformation and voters' experiences. Moreover, additional research should examine whether this relationship holds true across subgroups and for specific demographics (like Limited English Proficient Asian Americans).”
Key findings from Asian American non-voters:
- Non-voters were also confident that every ballot was counted in their state, but less so than voters. They were also less confident and trusting in election news coverage. Additional research could help to determine the extent of non-voters’ confidence and the motivations behind their concerns.
- Like voters, non-voters relied on a variety of mainstream and social media sources for their news. They also generally trust their news sources, although less so than voters. Like voters, a majority reported encountering what they thought was misinformation in the 2022 elections. Those who were registered to vote but did not turnout were much likelier to 2 encounter what they believed to be made-up stories than non-voters who were not registered to vote.
- Non-voters were less likely to be contacted about the election, especially from campaigns and parties.
- Non-voters stated that keys to their turnout next time were better information on the candidates and better candidates.
Key findings of Asian American voters:
- Asian Americans who voted in 2022 overwhelmingly felt confident that votes were properly counted, believed that the elections were well run, and reported that voting was easy. However, more research is needed to know which groups found voting easy and whether this was true across the board. For example, did certain subgroups—such as LEP Asian Americans—find voting more difficult? Or did they find it easy once they were able to understand the process?
- Voters relied on a variety of sources for election news; more than two-thirds cited mainstream media and one-in-two cited social media sources. About 80% of voters trusted the news sources they relied on at least “a fair amount.”
- More than one-in-two voters reported encountering what they thought to be election related misinformation at least “somewhat often.” Perceived misinformation concerning the voting process itself occurred in one-in-five cases.
- Voters reported encountering stories that warned about threats of violence or rioting on Election Day in one-in-five cases.
- Two-in-three Asian Americans chose to vote absentee or early.
- The most common reasons cited for voting absentee or early were long lines and limited hours on Election Day, COVID concerns, scheduling conflicts, and the convenience of absentee or early voting.
- One-in-six Asian American voters in 2022 reported feeling threatened while voting.
- Voting assistance was widely used but not always available. One-in-two voters said in language assistance was available and two-in-five used that assistance.
- Two-in-five voters were contacted by parties and campaigns and one-in-four were contacted by non-partisan community-based organizations.
FYI: Read the full survey report here.
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