Georgia's AAPI voters being woo'd like never before; Polls open until 7 p.m.

James Woo/AAAJ-Atlanta

Multi-lingual volunteers from Asian Americans Advancing Justice are going door-to-door.

For those of use who don't live in Georgia, its hard to imagine the intense battle for votes between the candidates for Senate.

In a tight, tight race, such as the state's runoff election for the U.S. Senate that is being finalized today, every vote counts.

"The power is literally in your hands," President-elect Joe Biden said Monday addressing Atlanta voters on Monday. "Unlike any time in my career, one state -- one state can chart the course not just for the next four years but for the next generation."

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been targeted by both Republicans and Democrats in key regions where they could be the swing votes.

AAPI voters throughout the state, 240,000 strong, could very well be the deciding factor. The stakes are enormous.

It could mean four more years of Washington gridlock led by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell whose grip on the Senate leadership depends on today's outcome; or the vote could determine the ability of the President Joe Biden administration to pass the promises he made during the campaign.

Polls indicate a photo finish in both races. Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock face Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.

One of the highlights of Georgia's political reckoning is the new found awareness of the power wielded by AAPI voters. Although they represent only 4% of registered voters their votes are being aggressively sought by the candidates and the major parties.

Instrumental in educating and stirring up excitement about the vote is the grassroots efforts by AAPI advocacy agencies. 

Impact, a national political action committee, has put in $2.5 million in advertising -- mostly online and television -- to get out the South Asian voters, representing the largest AAPI group in the state.

"This is the first election I ever remember where it's not even one time a day, it's 20 emails a day, 10 texts or calls. It's overwhelming," Nikkei Asia quotes Angela Hsu, president of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association. "I don't think either party has focused on Asian Americans because Asian Americans [previously] didn't vote."

"What's compelling about this is that we actually voted" on Nov. 3, she said, "and now they're paying attention."

Groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta are using their resources in sending out information in several Asian languages including Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi and Chinese.

Volunteers from Asian American Advocacy Fund, AAAJ and other local communitiy groups are going door-to-doo, staging texting and phone banks to get out the AAPI vote

Here are some of the commercials directed at Georgia's AAPI voters.

Georgia's polls remain open for a few more hours until 7 p.m. The Republican office holders have tried to dampen the vote turnout by limiting the number of polling places, especially in those communities where large numbers of AAPI reside. Get in line by 7 p.m. and poll officials are supposed to allow you to vote even when the deadline passes.

VOTE!

Indian American PAC raises $10M to push of AAPI candidates to victory

SCREEN CAPTURE

Kamala Harris' candidacy for Vice President has energized Indian American voters.

A leading Indian American advocacy and political action committee has raised a $10 million to assist Indian American candidates elected this November.

In just three months, the Indian American PAC, IMPACT, raised the funds to support turnout efforts in the Asian American and Indian American community throughout the United States, including the Democratic ticket that includes Vice President candidate Kamala Harris along with Joe Biden for President.

Harris' historic candidacy as the first Asian American on a national ticket has spurred greater-than-usual excitement in the Indian American community. 

A new YouGov study finds that Harris has indeed generated new enthusiasm to the Indian American electorate. The analysis is based on a nationally representative online survey of 936 Indian American citizens—the Indian American Attitudes Survey (IAAS)—conducted between Sept. 1-20, this year.

Assistance will be doled out with IMPACT's candidates' slate including six candidates for the US House and 16 candidates running for federal and state offices.

“IMPACT’s fundraising strength reflects trends we’re seeing across the country,” IMPACT Executive Director Neil Makhija, said Monday (Oct. 20) announcing the organization’s unprecedented fundraising effort.

“There’s a level of enthusiasm and excitement about this year’s election among Indian American voters that is palpable, and unrivaled in previous cycles,” he told The  American Bazaar.

“With an Indian American on the presidential ticket for the first time in history, and a record number of Indian American candidates running for office, Indian American voters are poised to exert a considerable amount of influence in this year’s election, and IMPACT will help mobilize and harness this emerging power.”

IMPACT said it will invest in the presidential, state-wide, and congressional races in battleground states across the country. Investments include committee contributions, paid advertising, targeted turnout operations, and infrastructure building.

This groundbreaking investment comes at a time when Indian Americans — the second largest immigrant group in the U.S. after Hispanics — are beginning to flex their political muscle on the national political stage, said an IMPACT statement.

In addition to an Indian American being a historic Democratic nominee for Vice President, the number of Indian Americans in Congress has grown five-fold in just the past eight years and the campaign arm charged with electing Democrats to Congress released its first-ever Hindi-language political ad earlier this year, it noted.

All of these developments have come less than 75 years since South Asians began emigrating to the US, and 55 years after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which ended discriminatory quotas and opened the doors to Asian immigrants, IMPACT said.

Besides the Democratic ticket, IMPACT is also endorsing Sara Gideon, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Maine against longtime incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Additionally, IMPACT is backing four sitting members of U.S. Congress: Ami Bera,  California; Ro Khanna, California; Pramila Jayapal, Washington; Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois — the PAC is backing two candidates seeking to unseat House incumbents: Sri Kulkarni, 22nd District in Texas, and Hiral Tipirneni, 6th District in Arizona.

Six State Senate candidates backed by IMPACT are: Jay Chaudhuri (North Carolina), Jeremy Cooney (New York), Kevin Thomas (New York), Rupande Mehta (New Jersey), Kesha Ram (Vermont), and Nikil Saval (Pennsylvania).

Five candidates for State Houses are: Nima Kulkarni (Kentucky) Padma Kuppa (Michigan), Jennifer Rajkumar (New York), Amish Shah (Arizona), and Vandana Slatter (Washington).

Impact is also backing Nina Ahmad (Pennsylvania Auditor General), Ronnie Chatterji (North Carolina Treasurer), Pavan Parikh (Ohio Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas) and Ravi Sandill (Texas District Judge).

Although there is only 1.8 million Indian American voters, they are concentrated in key districts and could be swing votes in several battleground states. 500,000 of the Indian American voters are in the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

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.