“We know that in 2020, almost three out of four Asian voters voted early or by mail, which is larger than any other [racial] community,” Christine Chen, executive director and co-founder of Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Vote, said in a recent press briefing.
Over the last few election cycles, outreach to AAPI voters has increased, especially in the wake of the Stop Asian Hate movement, which really ignited conversations on the diverse Asian communities that are often left out in national politics.
“Our communities, when reached out to, really show up. And I think that voting matters, but also making sure that the information that our communities get is accurate and clear is important,” said Nancy Yap, executive director for the Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE).
“We are really relying on the API electorate to actually turn out because when you turn out, it increases our numbers. It gets us more attentional nationally, and then, that translates in terms of how effective we are in lobbying and advocating for our issues,” Chen said.
However, the methodology of data gathering and disaggregation of voters could be improved., and while organizations and coalitions like AAPI Equity Alliance promote research bodies (like APIAVote) that take Asian data disaggregation seriously, many government agencies’ methods for disaggregating data are outdated.
