Tag: voting

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Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Seeking Volunteers for Election Exit Poll and Poll Monitoring

During the 2024 General Election, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) will conduct a nonpartisan multilingual exit poll of Asian American voters to capture their candidate preferences and party enrollment, and to identify important issues for the Asian American community. Since 1988, AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters and monitored polls in every major election to provide election protection.

AALDEF is seeking volunteers interested in phone banking or on-the-ground polling in the following states:

Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington

This year, AALDEF will be polling:

  • During Early Voting in late October and early November (specific dates TBA)
  • And on Election Day (Tuesday, November 5)

You do not need to know an Asian language (although helpful) and you do not need to be a lawyer.

For the Volunteer Interest Form, please click here.

For FAQs about this project, visit here.

For questions about AALDEF volunteer opportunities, please contact [email protected].

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NAPABA 2023-24 Elections: Deadline for Nominations Extended to July 7

Call for Nominations Deadline Extended:
July 7, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET

The Nominations and Elections Subcommittee has extended the period for accepting nominations for Officer and Director candidates and applications for At-Large Board Member candidates for the 2023-24 NAPABA Board of Governors. Submissions will now be accepted until July 7, 2023 at 8:00 pm ET.

As the nation’s largest Asian Pacific American membership organization, NAPABA continues to grow exponentially—maturity, stature, and staff. The NAPABA Board of Governors cultivates the strategic direction of the organization, provides resources to achieve goals and strategy, and exercises oversight ensuring the advancement of NAPABA’s strategic plan. The governing Board of 23 and national staff of eight complement and collaborate with each other—together united with a shared focus on advancing NAPABA’s mission through different perspectives and actions.

NAPABA is committed to having a governing board that reflects the diverse Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) legal community and has the right blend of skill, expertise, community connections, and diverse perspectives. We value an inclusive culture that embraces our diversity and empowers leaders to engage with each other and the community in a meaningful way by building trust, increasing transparency, and maximizing impact. We seek outstanding individuals of high character and integrity with proven leadership and board governance skills and who have demonstrated a strong commitment to NAPABA. Positions subject to election include President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Director (one position open). There are three available positions for At-Large Board Members subject to appointment.

To be considered for a NAPABA Officer, Director, or At-Large position, candidates must be a current individual member in good standing as of the date that the nominations or applications are submitted.

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Volunteers Needed for AALDEF’s Election Protection Program

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The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund is in need of volunteers to survey Asian American voters and protect their vote. In past elections, Asian Americans have faced a series of barriers in exercising their right to vote. For example, poll workers were hostile and made racist remarks, poll sites had too few interpreters to assist Asian American voters, translated voting materials were missing or hidden from voters, and ballots were mistranslated listing Democratic candidates as Republicans, and vice versa. When the news media reported on election results and the vote by specific groups, Asian Americans were often overlooked. 

Since 1988, AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters and monitored polls in every major election. Help us continue to resolve these issues at the polls by taking part in AALDEF’s 2018 Asian American Election Protection Program. On Election Day, November 6th, volunteers will document voter problems and the availability of language assistance. They will also conduct a nonpartisan multilingual exit poll to get a snapshot of Asian American candidate preferences, party enrollment, and issues of significance to Asian American voters.  

To read AALDEF’s report on the Asian American Vote, click here. Click here to sign up to volunteer. Attendance at one training session is required for all volunteers. All volunteers must be non-partisan and work a 3-hour shift. CLE trainings are 90 minutes, and attorneys can receive 1.5 CLE credits including 0.5 ethics credit. AABANY is the CLE provider for the New York training sessions. If you have volunteered in the past, you do not have to attend another training, but you must register to volunteer again. 

For more information, contact AALDEF Democracy Program Director Jerry Vattamala or Voting Rights Organizer Judy Lei at 800-966-5946 or [email protected].

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NAPABA Elections Reminders

Deadline to Cast Ballots in the 2013-2014 NAPABA Board Elections is September 15

All electronic votes must be cast by 11:59 pm PDT on Sunday, September 15, 2013. An electronic ballot was sent to every member’s email address of record. If you prefer to vote by paper ballot, complete and detach the ballot (back page of the Election Edition NAPABA Lawyer Newsletter) and fax or mail it to NAPABA by 11:59 pm PDT on September 15, 2013. If you have not received a ballot, please contact the NAPABA office at 202-775-9555 or by email to [email protected].

Important Reminder about Voting Eligibility

Only members in good standing as of August 1, 2013, are eligible to vote in NAPABA elections. Members must be admitted to the practice of law and (a) be in good standing with the bar of any state, territory, or province of the United States, the District of Columbia, or Canada, or (b) have heretofore met the requirements in category (a) and now be retired. Associate members – which include law students, paralegals, and legal assistants – are not eligible to vote in NAPABA elections.

Request for Positive Campaigning

NAPABA’s Nominating and Elections Committee has determined that campaigning by supporters of both candidates for President-Elect has been unnecessarily negative and is now requesting your assistance to ensure that all future campaigning during this election be conducted in a civil matter. Please maintain a civil discourse during your campaign activities and engage only in campaigning that upholds the ideals of NAPABA for the remainder of the election period. We recognize that your participation is critical to our efforts to eliminate negative campaign tactics and we appreciate your assistance in ensuring that the individuals engaged in the election process adhere to the highest ideals of NAPABA. 

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From APIAVote: Asian American and Pacific Islander Voters Up for Grabs, Survey Finds

Asian American and Pacific Islander Voters
Up for Grabs, Survey Finds

Behind The Numbers

 
WASHINGTON–Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders–two of the fastest-growing demographics in the U.S.–are open to persuasion by either major party at the ballot box, a new survey released today revealed.
 
The findings in “Behind the Numbers” are the result of a survey that interviewed approximately 6,600 AAPI voters in 11 languages after Election Day sponsored by Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), and National Asian American Survey (NAAS).
 
Among the significant findings: two-thirds of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders voted for President Obama, yet about half are independent or do not think in terms of political party.
 
“Our research shows that if either major party made significant investments to engage with Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, they could reap significant advantages over the next decade,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, director of NAAS.  "This is especially the case as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a sizable portion of persuadable voters.“
 
The survey also found that language proficiency made a tremendous difference, both in terms of partisan profile and the presidential election.  For example, the survey found that national polls conducted only in English might have underestimated the vote share for Mitt Romney.  Notably, however, Obama won every segment of the AAPI vote, including 61 percent Vietnamese voters-a group that traditionally voted Republican.
 
The report was an important milestone in surveys of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders because it was conducted in nine Asian languages including Laotian, a first for a national public opinion survey. 
 
"The survey results also revealed the importance of conducting surveys in Asian languages to get accurate results,” said Terry Ao Minnis, director of census & voting programs of AAJC. “Ensuring that legally required language assistance is readily available and easily identifiable at the polls is imperative to safeguard our communities’ ability to exercise fully their constitutional right to vote.”
 
Given its representative national sample, the survey also provided conclusive evidence on partisan and nonpartisan voter engagement efforts in battleground states and in the rest of the country. 
 
“The study confirmed that community organizations played a major role in mobilizing Asian American and Pacific Islander voters and stepped in where the Democratic and Republican parties were absent,” said Christine Chen, executive director of APIAVote. “The parties and other voter mobilizing organizations must invest in linguistically and culturally appropriate outreach to engage our communities for future elections." 
 
The full report is available HERE.
 

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LA Times: Asian Americans overwhelmingly backed Obama, Democrats

LA Times: Asian Americans overwhelmingly backed Obama, Democrats

Asian Americans as a Force in the 2012 Election

Back in April, I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as stating, “It would be a shame if we weren’t able to mobilize because it is an election year and it is a chance for the Asian community to have their voice heard.” Now that the 2012 national election has come and gone, it seems that some positive gains have been made by APAs, both at the polls and in the halls of Congress. Congrats to Grace Meng and the other APAs who were voted into office on Election Day. More work needs to be done, though:

But the poll of Asian Americans suggests that there is more work to be done. More than half – 51% – said that they were never contacted by a campaign, political party or community group to register to vote.  Of those who were contacted, 55% said they were approached  by Democrats and 38% by Republicans.

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Voters in affected counties can vote affidavit in any county / polling place

Thanks to James Hong at MinKwon for forwarding this timely update.

Governor Cuomo is signing an Executive Order which provides for a voter who is a resident in the federally-declared disaster counties of Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester and of New York City (which includes Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond) who have been displaced by Hurricane Sandy:

1.   To vote an affidavit ballot at any poll site in New York State, other than their regular poll site;

2.   Every Board of Elections in the State shall transmit the completed affidavit ballot of any voter who resides in one of the above counties to the Board of Elections where such voter is registered to vote to be canvassed;

3.   The affidavit ballot can only be canvassed for such contests for which the person was entitled to vote at such election.

 County Boards of Elections are directed to use all available means to:

  1. Provide notice to election inspectors and post the provisions of  the Executive Order conspicuously at poll sites in New York State giving  instruction on how to implement such Order;
  2. Instruct poll workers to provide affidavit ballots and guidance to voters; and 
  3. Provide notice and guidance to voters in accordance with this Executive Order that indicates that voters who reside in the counties of Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, or Westchester, or in New York City may receive and complete an affidavit ballot at any polling place in New York State, and that the board of elections of the voter’s residence will count such voter’s vote for any office on such affidavit ballot for which the voter is entitled to vote. 

 The following information may help you implement the Governor’s Executive Order:

  • The ballot will be sorted out when suitcases are returned to boards after the close of polls, and those belonging in any of the declared disaster counties shall be transmit to those county boards.  It may be helpful to photocopy/scan for the board’s election files, the affidavit envelopes of voters casting ballots pursuant to this executive order prior to sending the ballots themselves on to the voter’s home county board.
  • Before counting such ballots, the county receiving same shall check to ensure the voter did not vote in person or via absentee ballot.  The county board shall then cast such ballot with other affidavit and emergency ballots, counting only those votes for contests and questions  for which the voter was eligible to vote in their own county

For example, a voter staying with family in Orange County who was displaced from Westchester, would be entitled to vote for statewide contests and Supreme Court (because those 2 counties share a judicial district) and possibly a congressional or state senate contest.  A voter who sought refuge further upstate might only be eligible to vote in the statewide contests, as they would share no other offices/contests.

– 
Maurice Mitchell 
New York Civic Engagement Table, Coordinator
40 Worth St.
Suite 802
Manhattan, NY 10013
Office: 212-523-0180 ext. 28
Mobile: 516-425-1272
[email protected]

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888-API-VOTE Hotline

APIAVoteheader   November 5, 2012  

888-API-VOTE Hotline
Phone lines are open now
 
While enthusiasm for voting is high, voting can be a complicated process, even more so if your first language is not English.  So, it is important for Asian Americans to learn about voting – what type of ID is accepted at the polls, what rights you have when voting – especially the right to language assistance, and what to do if you encounter any problems at the polls.
 
To help Asian Americans vote, AAJC and APIAVote will be running an Asian-language Election Protection hotline, 1-888-API-VOTE (274-8683). on Election Day and the day before Election Day. The hotline will be live from 7:00am -7:00pm on Monday, November 5, and from 5:30am – 7:30pm on Tuesday, November 6.  We will provide assistance in Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Thai, and Vietnamese.
 
Voters can call in with any questions they have about voting, or to report any problems at the polls.  Questions such as, “where is my polling place?” and “what type of ID should I bring?” can be easily answered by our staff.  Trained staff is also on hand to address any problems that may arise.  For example, if you have difficulty with English, you have the right to bring a friend or family member into the voting booth to help you vote, but not all poll workers may know about this right (as provided by Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act) and may wrongly turn people away.  

If a poll worker wrongly turns you away from the polls because of this or refuses to allow you to vote with the assistance of your choice, call 1-888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) and we can help you address the issue so that you can vote.  In fact, if anyone calls your eligibility to vote into question or tries to hinder your ability to vote for any reason, call 1-888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) and someone will be able to assist you. 

 
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