Tag: census

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From NAPABA: Prepare for the 2020 Census

Census Day is April 1

This month, households across the country will receive letters inviting them to fill out their 2020 Census forms online. Are you ready to fill yours out? Are you ready for the questions you may get as a lawyer about the Census?

Everyone should be counted in the Census, regardless of language ability, immigration status, age, income or identity. Unfortunately, in some communities there is misinformation, confusion, and fear about participating. And others, like the AAPI community, are historically undercounted.

If our communities don’t fill out the Census, they lose out on electoral power and representation, funding, resources and access to services in their language. As lawyers and community leaders, we are in a position to dispel myths and help our communities get counted.

In light of concerns about the coronavirus, Census officials are encouraging individuals to fill out the form online or by mail. For more information about the Census and the Coronavirus, please visit CountUsIn2020.org.

Four Things You Can Do to Help:

Watch and share the Census Bureau’s videos, in English and over sixty other languages, on how to fill out the Census online.

Share the in-language Census resources in your community and with your clients.

Share the AAPI in-language “About the Census” videos on social media.

Learn what lawyers and bar associations can do to protect the public.

NAPABA, the South Asian Bar Association of North American and Asian Americans Advancing Justice developed resources for AAPI lawyers about the upcoming Census. Find more materials, including in-language resources and videos, at napaba.org/census and CountUsIn2020.org.

Together we can ensure our communities are counted!

Questions about the Census?  You can contact NAPABA two ways:

  • Call the census language hotline, for answers to questions in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Urdu, Hindi, and Bengali/Bangla.  Call 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM Eastern Time at 844-2020-API or 844-202-0274.
  • Go to https://www.countusin2020.org/hotline
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New York State Complete Count Commission Announces Public Events to Prepare for 2020 Census

Beginning March 4 in Rochester, the New York State Complete Count Commission will hold six public hearings across the state for input from Census experts, advocates, and the general public about how to best ensure a complete count of New Yorkers in the 2020 census.

The Complete Count Commission, appointed last month, is tasked with building upon the sweeping efforts already underway to prepare for next year’s federal Census. With these meetings, the Commission is undertaking a multi-year, collaborative strategy involving all state agencies, local and county governments, non-profits and local stakeholders across the state.

Each meeting of the Commission will be open to the public and webcast. The events will feature detailed presentations to the Commission by various entities involved in the census, as well as testimony from advocates, and the general public on a first-come, first-served basis.

Specific details for public participation in the public comment portion of the events will be forthcoming.

The hearings scheduled are:

Monday, March 4, 2 p.m.
Rochester City Council Chambers
30 Church St.
Rochester, NY 14614

Monday, March 11, 6 p.m.
Hostos Community College
500 Grand Concourse
Bronx, NY 10451

Wednesday, March 20, 7 p.m.
SUNY Sullivan
112 College Road
Loch Sheldrake, NY 12759

Friday, April 12, 3 p.m.
Suffolk County Legislature – William J. Lindsay County Complex – William H. Rogers Building
725 Veterans Memorial Highway
Smithtown, NY 11787

Friday, April 26, 10 a.m.
Mohawk Valley Community College – Utica
1101 Sherman Dr
Utica, NY 13501

Monday, May 6, 6 p.m.
Rockefeller Institute of Government
411 State St
Albany, NY 12203

Additional hearings may be scheduled at a later date.

In addition to the above hearings, members of the Commission will meet with stakeholders across the state to augment efforts.

For more information about the Complete Count Commission and New York’s efforts to ensure a full count in 2020, please visit https://www.ny.gov/programs/2020-census.

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From APIAVote: Census Analysis of Asian American Electorate

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June 7, 2013                                     

Asian American Voters Continue Decade-Long Trend,
Add 500,000 New Voters
 
WASHINGTON—Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), and National Asian American Survey (NAAS) today issued the following statement on the release of census analysis on the voting participation rates in Election 2012:
 
The latest Census analysis confirms that the Asian American electorate is on the rise. In line with our estimates from the “Behind the Numbers” report released earlier this year, the Census Bureau shows that more than 3.9 million Asian Americans voted in the 2012 elections, accounting for nearly 3% of all voters. This was an increase of more than 500,000 voters from 2008.
 
Below, we highlight three important aspects about the Asian American electorate: continued rates of rapid growth at the national level; growing electoral relevance of the population in many states; and the ongoing need for survey data with Asian language support.
 
Key findings at the national level from the report and the associated data include:
 
  • The growth of the Asian American electorate was relatively steady between 2004-8 and 2008-12 (an increase of about 589,000 and 547,000 in each period). By contrast, the number of white voters rose by about 475,000 between 2004-8, and declined by about 2 million between 2008-12.
  • The biggest growth in the Asian American electorate was between 2000 and 2004, with 723,000 new voters. However, 2004 was also a year that saw an increase of 10 million white voters, thereby muting the electoral affect of Asian American’s growth.
  • The Asian American share of the voting population has been steadily increasing, from 1.8 percent of all voters in 2000 and 2.2 percent in 2004, to 2.6 percent in 2008, and 2.9 percent in 2012.
  • Voter registration remains a significant hurdle for Asian Americans, with only 56 percent of adult citizens registered to vote in 2012. This compares to registration rates of 72 percent and 73 percent among whites and blacks, respectively, and 59 percent among Latinos.
  • Once registered, however, Asian Americans turn out in rates comparable to other groups: 84 percent for Asian Americans, 82 percent for Latinos, 87 percent for whites, and 91 percent for blacks.
State data is in line with the national data, showing that the Asian American electorate is an increasingly important voting bloc.
 
Asian American voters in California and New York, states with the two largest Asian American communities, turned out at or above the national rate. 84% of registered Asian American voters in California and more than 86 percent in voters in New York voted in 2012 election.
 
In the 15 states that APIAVote, AAJC, and other partners supported organizations to increase civic participation, Asian American voters turned out at or above 84% in almost all 15 states. Asian Americans in Georgia and Washington turned out at about 95%, nearly 93% in Ohio, above 89% in Minnesota and Florida, and above 86% n Illinois, Michigan, and Virginia. Of the 15 states, Texas had the lowest turnout at 71.6% and Nevada at 81.7%, although these are all within the survey’s margin of error.
 
While we are pleased with the latest Census Bureau analysis, we remain concerned that it may not tell the full story of the Asian American electorate because its survey is conducted only in English and Spanish. For example, in “Behind the Numbers,” where more than 40% of the Asian American and Pacific Islander registered voters surveyed responded in an Asian language, we found turnout among those who had difficulty speaking English was 9% lower (75%) than those who did not (84%).
 
“Behind the Numbers” indicated that voter turnout varied significantly by ethnicity. For example turnout among Laotians and Cambodians was lowest in 2012 at 40% and 62% while turnout was highest among Hmong and Japanese at 89%. 
 
The steady increase in new voters and the high rates of turnout among growing Asian Americans communities across the country indicate that as more Asian Americans become naturalized citizens and as their U.S.-born children enter adulthood, Asian Americans will continue to grow as an important voting bloc for future elections.

For more information on this growing electorate, “Behind the Numbers” is available at: http://www.apiavote.org/sites/default/files/btn_final_singles_FINAL_0.pdf.  

Further details from the census report can be found at http://www.apiavote.org/sites/default/files/Census%202012%20Voting%20Rates.pdf