AAPI voters having an impact in early voting

Asian/Americans appear to be showing up for early voting that is allowed in 37 states 

YOU CAN'T say AAPI celebrities haven't done what they could to get AAPI voters to register to vote. They have put out numerous PSAs stating why it is important to have a voice in our democracy.

All that work appears to be having its desired effect. In the early voting conducted in 37 states, polls indicate that Asian Americans have turned out in heavier numbers than they have ever done before; Latinos are making their presence felt in states like New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Colorado. However, the turnout of African American voters have not matched the numbers in 2012 when President Obama was running for reelection.

Early and absentee voting has exploded in popularity in recent years, as Election Day has shifted from a single day in November to a weeks-long and sometimes months-long period where voters can choose from many options to cast their ballots including by mail, at early voting sites or at Election Day polling places.

Thus far, more than 13.4 million votes have been cast, far higher than the rate in 2012, according to Associated Press data. In all, more than 46 million people —or as much as 40 percent of the electorate — are expected to vote before Election Day, Nov. 8.

Asian/American turnout in early voting has been slightly boosted this year, according to several academic and media analyses.

The collective category of mixed-race, Asian and other-race voters accounted for 209,000 ballots after the first full weekend of in-person early voting ended last Sunday.

With another week to go, that is alris eady three quarters of the entire 2012 early-voting total.

Hillary Clinton is building on the Obama coalition as Latino, Asian/American, and suburban women voters are becoming a bigger part of the Democratic coalition., according to Robbie Mook, Clinton's campaign manager. The fourth leg of the Democratic table is the African/American vote, which overwhelmingly Democratic.

Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy is turning the Democratic Party into the diverse face of America’s future.

In Nevada, a key battleground state, early voting was down but the Democratic lead widened after the start of in-person voting last week. Democrats lead in returned ballots, 46 percent to 35 percent. Ballots from older white voters declined significantly while those from Hispanics and Asian-Americans rose.

In Colorado, where early voting has been by mail, Democrats led 40 percent to 34 percent. In 2012, Democrats trailed Republicans at this point by 10 percentage points. Since then, registered Democrats have surpassed Republicans in the state.

Even in a Republican stronghold like Texas, the heavy early voting by Latinos is expected to give Clinton an edge. The state does not break down voters by political affiliation.

With just a few days before Nov. 8, Asian/American nonpartisan and partisan groups are increasing their efforts to ensure that the AAPI voice is heard in local and national contests.

“Every eligible voter in the United States should be able to cast a ballot and participate in our democracy,” said Mee Moua, executive director and president of Advancing Justice | AAJC. “Ensuring that all voters know their rights at the polls is critical to their participation this November. As Asian Americans continue to grow in population, and turn out to vote, we must do everything we can to support their participation and make visible their political impact.”

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AAPI political candidates step into the spotlight

By Louis Chan
Reprinted from AsAm News

FROM THE Pacific Islands to Virginia, Asian/American and Pacific Islander candidates dot the political landscape in the United States.

Research from the Asian and Pacific American Institute of Congressional Studies found that 123 AAPI candidates are running for state or federal office in 2016. That total does not include the Hawaii State Legislature because the filing deadline there is June 7.

“Asian/American representation is on a steady upward path, in line with the growth of the Asian/American electorate,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan to AsAmNews. Ramakrishnan is a professor and associate dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine. “There is still a big gap between the Asian American share of the population and the Asian American share of Congress. Much of this gap is narrowed, however, when we look at the Asian American share of the voting population.”

AAPI candidates are running in 28 states, the North Mariana Islands, America Samoa and Guam. Democratic candidates outnumber Republicans by two to one with 24 Democrats, 12 Republicans, two libertarians and one independent running for Congress. On the state level, the gap between Democratic and Republican candidates is even greater with Democrats outnumbering Republicans 58 to 25.

Not surprisingly, the survey also reveals a gender gap with men outnumbering women 80 to 43.

One prominent Asian American women elected official is Rep Judy Chu (D-CA).

“Building a strong leadership pipeline for AAPIs is something that I have prioritized in my capacity as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus,” she said to AsAmNews. “I hope that as more AAPIs see people like themselves in leadership positions, the more they will believe that they too have a place at the table.”

The number of Asian American voters is expected to grow by 107 percent by 2040, according to a study from the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge and APAICS. As the number of voters increase, so does their political strength. The number of AAPI candidates is increasing along with that voting power.

APAICS also released a map showing where all AAPI elected officials are located on the local, state and federal levels.

“We are not only showing up in densely-populated AAPI communities, but in new areas where AAPIs have not traditionally been represented in the political sphere,” said Floyd Mori, President and CEO of APAICS. “The database helps us understand to a fuller extent, the status of AAPIs holding political influence– including where our voices are most strongly represented and where there is still room for growth.”

Chu says she is encouraged that Asian Americans have become a “deciding demographic in key states like Virginia and Nevada. That means more candidates are paying attention to issues that matter to us. It also means we’re seeing more AAPI candidates running for office at all levels.”

Perhaps surprising to some, many Asian/American candidates are coming from districts that are minority Asian American. Ramakrishnan told AsAmNews it will be important for these candidates to reach out to other racial and ethnic groups, including African/Americans, Latinos and White voters if they are to succeed.

“We can’t just assume that the number of Asian/American representatives will automatically grow along with population growth,” he said. “Asian/Americans need to participate in much greater numbers than we are doing today, and our participation needs to be strong in midterm and elections as well as presidential elections. In fact, getting more involved in school board and local elections may be the best way for Asian Americans to steadily build their power base in order to gain visibility and influence, both the short and long term.

The APAICS Political Database is the first and only database of currently elected AAPI officials. The numbers are based on data as of March 21, 2016.

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Campaign launched: Asian/Americans #NotTheSame

AS ASIANS, we've all had to contend with the image that most Americans have for us. Even worse, they can't tell if we are Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Cambodian or any of the other 48 or more ethnicities originating in Asia that inevitably leads to that question we've all hear: "What are you?" or, "Where are you from?" which leads to the dreaded follow-up query, "Where are you REALLY from?" 

Or, they confuse you with another Asian co-worker, or they assume that we're all engineering or math students, or believe that we're united on all issues, or they think we're all alike.

Not only do we have to do something extraordinary to stand out, or assume the personality traits that are he complete opposite of the stereotypes assigned to Asians; instead of being safe, we take unnecessary risks; we laugh too loud at an unfunny joke; we tip higher than the server deserves; we drink more than we should; we drive too fast an aggressive; we don't raise our hand in class even though we might know the answer and so on, and so on.

And then, there's that darn model minority myth that hangs over all of us like a dark cloud.

To break through that cloud, a light is trying to leak through. The Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund with the partnership of a score of other agencies serving the AAPI community will begin a month-long campaign this December to raise awareness about the varied — and often unheard — stories of struggles experienced by members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

The mission of #NotTheSame is to raise awareness and to counter the "model minority" myth that assumes all young Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders are successful and have unlimited access to college and opportunities. This campaign is inspired by the unheard AAPI stories of homelessness, poverty, refugee struggles, bullying and prejudice.

The above video was created by the Jubilee Project. A 30-second version  will air on Comcast and NBC affiliates during the month, but it will be mainly a campaign waged online and on social media. About 30 young Asian American and Pacific Islanders were asked to share their stories for the video on how the words they would hear growing up affected them. Share the video and/or join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by using #NotTheSame.

Some of the young people whose stories were featured in the video.

Bill to document disparities in the AAPI Community vetoed by California governor; effort will continue

• CALIFORNIA Assemblymember Rob Bonta, the only Filipino/American member of the state legislature, has had a good year with the legislations that he has introduced benefiting the Asian/American Pacific Islander community. So it was a bit of a surprise to see the bill to collect additional data about the AAPI community vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
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• Data is critical because government agencies and nonprofits need that information in order to justify the funding of their services.



Assemblymember Rob Bonta
(D) Oakland


Assembly Bill 176 would have uncovered many of the health, social, economic, and educational disparities in the Asian/American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. 

“This bill started from a simple but powerful idea,” said Bonta during a news conference in San Francisco’s Chinatown last week. “There are more than 23 distinct communities within the Asian American population and 19 within the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population. Each of these API communities has different health and educational outcomes and needs.” 

AB 176 passed the Assembly and Senate with just one dissenting vote so Assemblymember Bonta says he was surprised and disappointed that it was not signed by the governor.

Some state agencies already collect this data and this bill would have added the Departments of Industrial Relations, Fair Employment and Housing and Public Health to collect that information.

The proposed legislation acknowledges the diversity (67 different groups) within the AAPI umbrella by expanding the data collection for the groups including, but not limited to, Bangladeshi, Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Taiwanese, Thai, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander groups, including, but not limited to, Fijian and Tongan.

Among the successes this year, Bonta authored the bill declaring Oct. 25 as Larry Itliong Day. That followed a bill in late 2014 that mandated that the role of Filipino/American farmworkers be included in school curricula.

Bonta said that the bill's sponsors will reintroduce a similar measure in next year's legislative session.

"This is an issue that is not going away," said Bonta, "Communities should not be rendered invisible. They should be counted."

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White House Summit on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

PLANS ARE being made to observe Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month this May and the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders is compiling the list of activities being planned throughout the nation. If you want your event included in the list, click here. 

In case you missed the second National AAPI Community Google+ Hangout last week, here's the link: View the Hangout here.

Below are links mentioned on the Hangout where you can check out some of the activities highlighted by the Summit on Asian Americans and Pacific Islander on May 12:

· White House Summit on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

· Federal Agency Accomplishments Report

· Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and #APAEverywhere

If you have further questions, please email the AAPI office at WhiteHouseAAPI@ed.gov. For WHIAAPI updates, please like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter: @WhiteHouseAAPI.

RELATED: New generation of Filipino Americans elected to office

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