AALDEF Exit Poll: Asian American voters still prefer Democrats

AALDEF

Hundreds of AALDEF volunteers conducted an exit poll during the Nov. 8 elections.

Asian American voters overwhelmingly voted for Democrats in the Midterm Elections held Nov. 8, based on exit polling by hundreds of volunteers.

The polling of over 5,300 Asian American voters conducted by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund found  that for the House of Representatives, 64% of the surveyed voters chose the Democrat candidate, twice as many as those who voted for the Republican candidate, 32%.

The results were similar, about two to one, for candidates running for Senate and Governor.

The respondents showed their preference for Democrats despite expressing misgivings about President Biden. Only 45.3% of theAANHPI respondents approved of Biden's performance, 31.4% expressed disapproval and 23.3% didn't know.

“Asian Americans were nearly unified in their support of candidates for the House, the Senate, and their respective governors and were likely the difference in close races in Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Georgia," said Jerry Vattamala, director of AALDEF’s Democracy Program. 

Other highlights of the exit polls included:

• Top 3 factors influencing House vote: Economy/Jobs (15.0%), Health Care (14.5%), Education (13.1%)

• Victim of Anti-Asian Harassment or Violence in the Past Two Years: 21.6% Yes, 78.4% No

• Support Requiring Teaching a Unit of AAPI History in K-12: 82.7% Yes, 17.3% No

• Support Access to Legal Abortion: 63.8% Support, 15.8%Don’t Know, 20.4% Oppose

• Support Laws to Protect Transgender People from Discrimination: 65.2% Support, 20.9% Don’t Know, 14.0%Oppose

• Main Source of News: Newspaper (18.3%), Other (15.9%), CNN (13.0%), Radio (9.9%), and Facebook (9.2%)

• Outcome of 2020 Presidential Election Legitimate (DC, LA, MA, MI, NJ, TX, VA only): 59.2% Yes, 16.3% No, 24.5% Don’t Know

Over 550 AALDEF volunteers surveyed Asian American voters and monitored poll sites in 15 states (California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia) and the District of Columbia. 

For more preliminary results per each state, click here.

Volunteers also monitored for compliance with the language assistance provisions of the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act, and to guard against anti-Asian discrimination and intimidation.

"Unfortunately, too many Asian American voters were required to provide identification when it was not required, were sent to the wrong poll site, were not given provisional ballots, and did not have access to interpreters in jurisdictions that were required to provide them,” said Vattamala. 

AALDEF attorneys and volunteers observed several voter problems, including:

• Missing or no interpreters
• Poll workers incorrectly requiring voters to provide identification
• Voters being sent to incorrect poll sites
• Voters not being provided provisional ballots
• Machine breakdowns

Voters were surveyed in English, as well as 11 Asian languages, including Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese. AALDEF will release a more detailed analysis of the exit poll surveys in the future

“Our flagship exit poll illuminates the crosscutting issues that are important to Asian American communities and the values we share. With critical issues like abortion access and immigration at stake in the midterm elections, the Asian American vote is now more important than ever,” said Margaret Fung, executive director of AALDEF.

"In the last decade, Asian Americans have been the fastest growing racial group in the electorate, numbering more than 13.3 million Asian American voters. Their support or opposition can make or break a close election," she said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

I voted today with a hope and a prayer

I voted today, three weeks before Election Day, with mixed emotions of anger and hope and a dash of faith in our democratic system.

This year's Presidential Election is one of the most important elections in my lifetime. I cast my ballot early because of the attempts of the Republican Party to disenfranchise voters.

The Trump administration and his Republican Party have instituted several ways to make it harder to exercise my right to vote.

• Reducing the number of polling places and/or limiting the number of dropoff boxes
• Requiring a photo ID or proof of residency.
• In some polling places, Republicans may be sending so-called poll watchers. They say it is to ensure the legitimacy of the voting, but why are they asking for Special Forces veterans?
• Slowing the mail by destroying fast mail sorting machine so now, in certain locations, the mail must be sorted by hand.
• In California, the Republican Party has set up fake dropoff boxes so they can allegedly "deliver" the ballots for unwary voters. The GOP has been ordered to cease and desist by the State Attorney General.

For my community, I went to city hall where the county had placed an official dropoff box for those who wanted to vote early and didn't want to use the U.S. Postal Service. There were no lines, just a friendly (masked) county employee to watch over the box.

I understand in some states controlled by Republican governors and legislatures, the reduced number of polling places have produced long lines waiting as long as 8 hours to cast their ballots. In these states, wear comfortable shoes, if you're a senior, you can bring a light lawn chair and prepare for a long wait. Bring water. If you're voting on a sunny day, an umbrella will help.

Here are some helpful hints for California voters. Voters in other states might have different requirements. Check with your county elections office website for your state's information on voting.

1. Use a black or blue pen to fill in the bubble. Pencil or red ink won't do. There are instructions if you messed up and filled in the wrong bubble.
2. This is important: Remember to sign your ballot envelope. Many voters forget this last step. The county election office will throw out unsigned ballots. Make sure the signature is the same one on you have on file.
3. If you want, you can track your ballot online by linking to this site.
4. To find an official ballot dropoff site, click here.

KEY DATES AND DEADLINES

Election day is Nov. 3

Registration deadlines for California

• Online: Oct. 19
• By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 19
• In person: Nov. 3

Absentee ballot deadlines for California

• Request: Oct. 27
• Return by mail: Postmarked by Nov. 3
• Return in person: Nov. 3 by 8:00 p.m.

Early voting

• Oct. 5 - Nov. 2, but dates and hours may vary based on where you live
• In California, you can also register and vote on Election Day.

Conditional voter registration is a safety net for Californians who miss the deadline to register to vote or update their voter registration information. Voters can use the conditional voter registration process from the day after the deadline all the way through Election Day. Eligible citizens can go to their county election office, polling place, or vote center to register and vote conditionally. These ballots will be processed once the county elections office has completed the voter registration verification process.

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. 

Study: Asian Americans less likely to get a response from their state legislators

ASAM NEWS

A new study has found that Asian/Americans who reach out to their state legislator are less likely to get a response than other groups, according to researchers who shared their findings in a blog on the Washington Post.

Micah Gell-Redman from the University of Georgia, Neil Visalvanich from Durham University, and Charles Crabtree and Christopher Farris from the University of Michigan created email addresses from fictitious constituents with different demographic characteristics.

The study’s authors found that legislators were less likely to respond to requests from racial and ethnic minorities, however the disparity was greatest for Asian/American constituents.

Over two-thirds, or 69 percent, of the state legislators in the country representing 42 states were tested.

Blacks were three percent less likely to get a response than Whites.

Latinos were seven percent less likely and Asian Americans were nine percent less likely.

Republicans were 9 percent less likely than Democrats to respond to a Latino. The study doesn’t give a reason why, but suspects that may be due to one of two factors. Prejudice may be to blame or it’s possible Republicans dismiss Latinos because they are statistically more likely to be a Democrat.

When it comes to Asian Americans, Democrats and Republicans are equally less likely to respond. It’s possible that Asians are dismissed because they are less likely to vote. However, Latinos are also less likely to vote. Their population is also much larger than Asians.

Both Latinos and Asian Americans are also more likely to be independent and not loyal to either party. The study concludes “if both parties fail to engage with this growing constituency, members of these groups may well have reason to feel less than enthusiastic about politics and to stay away from the polls, making this self-reinforcing.”

In a glaring omission, the authors in their Washington Post blog do not mention prejudice as a possible factor for Asian Americans to not receive a response.
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