Voting Rights
Asian American Democracy Project
The ability to have a say in the workings of government, either as an elected official or as a voter, is a powerful empowerment tool. Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic population in the United States, yet the community's political strength has yet to be fully realized.
Throughout United States history, Asian Americans have been disenfranchised by discriminatory laws that denied citizenship to Asian immigrants and rendered them ineligible to vote. It was not until 1943 that Chinese Americans were first permitted to become citizens. For Asian Indians, it was 1946. For Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans, that right did not come until 1952. Despite the inroads Asian Americans have made as elected officials, the legacy of these discriminatory policies and the notion of Asian Americans as foreigners is still strongly felt today, impeding Asian American political participation.
AALDEF blends community education, election reform advocacy, litigation and technical assistance to community-based countries to promote civic participation among Asian Americans, immigrants and new citizens across the country.
AALDEF is a nationally recognized expert of Asian American voting issues and has testified before Congress on the issues of bilingual ballots, barriers to voting and redistricting. AALDEF has also successfully brought or joined litigation for compliance with the Voting Rights Act in Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. For the past 20 years, AALDEF has monitored elections for anti-Asian voter disenfranchisement, compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act's language assistance provisions (Section 203) and non-discrimination protections (Section 2), and implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The findings from these monitoring efforts have been analyzed and compiled in major policy reports that have been instrumental in federal voting rights policy. For copies of AALDEF's latest voting rights policy reports, please click here.
A hallmark of AALDEF voting rights work is its Annual Asian American Election Protection Project, which consists of a multilingual voter survey and poll monitoring efforts. The voter survey and poll monitoring are conducted each year, are national in scope and mobilize thousands of trained volunteers from law firms, law schools, and community groups. During the 2008 Presidential Election, AALDEF covered a total of 229 poll sites in 52 cities in 11 states - New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana, Nevada, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. AALDEF surveyed 16,665 Asian American voters in 11 Asian languages and dialects. Volunteer attorneys inspected 137 poll sites in New York City and Boston that were specifically targeted for language assistance under the Voting Rights Act and in Northern Virginia, Northern New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania for voting signs required under HAVA. In total, AALDEF trained and organized more than 1,500 volunteer attorneys, law students and community members in this national effort.
AALDEF witnessed and received hundreds of complaints from Asian American voters on Election Day, ranging from hostile poll workers making racist comments toward Asian Americans and limited English proficient voters to improper or excessive demands for identification from Asian American voters. AALDEF also operated a multilingual telephone hotline to record complaints of voting problems. Operators spoke seven languages and dialects: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Toisan, Korean, Tagalog, and Gujarati.
Monitoring the 2012 Election
AALDEF has monitored the voting rights and political opinions of Asian American voters in every major election since 1988. In the 2008 elections, AALDEF polled almost 17,000 Asian American voters in eleven states and Washington, DC. For the 2012 elections, AALDEF will be conducting an exit poll in over 10 states, including Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. AALDEF will also monitor the poll sites for compliance with the Voting Rights Act, including the provision of Asian-language ballots, interpreters, signs, and voting materials, which are required in certain districts. AALDEF will also monitor the application of voter identification and proof of citizenship laws that create discriminatory obstacles for Asian American voters and other voters of color. Read more here.
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Asian American Involvement in the Redistricting Process
Census 2010 revealed a dramatic growth in the Asian American population in states and cities across the country. Redistricting is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to increase the political influence and electoral representation of Asian Americans by keeping communities together in newly-drawn districts.
New York State Senate, State Assembly, and Congressional Redistricting
AALDEF, in a joint coalition with LatinoJustice PRLDEF, National Institute for Latino
Policy (NILP), and the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) of
Medgar Evers College have released the Unity Map, a
joint proposal for new State Assembly and State Senate districts in New
York City that reflects its changing demographics and protects the
voting rights of Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans.
See the Unity Map and find out everything you need to know about Asian Americans and redistricting.
New York City Council Redistricting
As the New York City Council redistricting process begins, AALDEF will propose new new district lines that reflect the City's Asian American population growth, as we have done for the past two decades.
View our fact sheet on New York City Council redistricting and our calendar of key dates.
Favors v. Cuomo (2012)
AALDEF and pro bono counsel Kaye Scholer LLP filed a complaint-in-intervention on behalf of four Asian American voters in the Congressional redistricting case Favors v. Cuomo, urging the Brooklyn Federal Court to adopt a redistricting plan that provides Asian Americans in New York with equal political representation. In March, a three-judge panel approved the new Congressional redistricting map for New York, which closely resembled AALDEF's own proposed district lines by keeping Asian American and other communities of color together.
View a timeline of AALDEF's Congressional redistricting advocacy >
Perry v. Perez (2012)
AALDEF, together with pro bono counsel Kaye Scholer LLP, filed an amicus brief in Perry v. Perez on behalf of the Organization of Chinese Americans Greater Houston Chapter urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a Texas district court's interim redistricting plan after the DOJ contended that the Texas state legislature's plan diluted the voting power of Asian Americans and other people of color.
AALDEF Amicus Brief on Behalf of Organization for Chinese Americans Greater Houston Chapter
Asian Language Assistance under Voting Rights Act Section 203
In October 2011, the Census Bureau announced that under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, bilingual ballots and language assistance must be provided to Asian American voters in 11 states, covering 22 cities and counties, and in six Asian languages. Now for the first time, South Asian languages will be covered in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City (Queens), and Hamtramck, Michigan. Chinese and Filipino ballots will be provided in four more districts each, Vietnamese in three more districts, and Korean in one more district. AALDEF will be monitoring these new poll sites for compliance and documenting any language barriers that voters still face.
Recent press releases:
Queens to Provide Bengali, Hindi, and Punjabi Language Assistance in Upcoming Elections (April 30, 2012)
Eleven States Must Now Provide Asian American Voters with Bilingual Ballots (October 12, 2011)
2010 Midterm Elections Exit Poll
Working in collaboration with 30 national and local groups, AALDEF conducted a multilingual exit poll of over 3,500 Asian American voters in five states on Election Day. Read about our preliminary findings here.
