Our vote decides the rules that set our rent, how much we pay at the pump, and what’s in our paycheck. Our vote is powerful, especially as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
Out of the 27 million AAPIs who call the U.S. home, 16 million are eligible to vote this November 3rd, making AAPIs the nation’s fastest-growing racial voting bloc.
This November 3rd, we can use our power to vote for progress. AAPI Equity Alliance’s 2026 Voter Guide analyzes ballot measures in the State of California, County of Los Angeles, and City of Los Angeles with AAPIs in mind.
AAPI Equity Alliance is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. We do not endorse individual candidates. AAPI Equity Alliance is not taking a position on State Prop 38, LA City Measure PL, and LA City Measure FD.
State of California:
✅ YES on Prop 1 (Funding for Affordable Housing)
SUPPORT: Allows the state to issue bonds to fund programs to address critical veterans and affordable housing needs.
✅ YES on Prop 2 (Increases California’s Rainy Day Fund)
SUPPORT: Allows the state to save more in its “rainy day fund” in strong economic years to protect services during difficult budget years.
✅ YES on Prop 3 (Makes Permanent High-Income Tax for Education)
SUPPORT: Permanently extends an existing highincome earner tax to fund K12 education, community colleges, healthcare, and other essential services.
✅ YES on Prop 4 (Allows Public Financing of Campaigns)
SUPPORT: Permits the state and local governments to create public financing for political campaigns to counter campaign spending by special interests and wealthy donors.
✅ YES on Prop 5 (Changes California’s Recall Process)
SUPPORT: Changes California’s recall process to reduce voter confusion and ensure a majority of voters decide the outcome of state elections.
✅ YES on Prop 37 (Helps Middle-Class Homebuyers Buy New Homes)
SUPPORT: Creates a homeownership loan program to support middle-class Californians with their down payment when buying new homes. Helps address our housing crisis.
❌ NO on Prop 39 (Makes Voting Harder by Requiring Voter ID)
OPPOSE: Makes it harder to vote by requiring ID at the polls or writing parts of personal ID numbers on the back of mail ballots. Lowers voter turnout, creates voting barriers and privacy concerns.
✅ YES on Prop 40 (Creates A One-Time Billionaire Wealth Tax for Healthcare)
SUPPORT: Establishes a onetime tax on billionaires’ wealth to fund critical healthcare programs, including Medi-Cal, which were cut by the federal government. Offers the only solution to save healthcare and lives right now.
❌ NO on Prop 41 (Requires Audits for New State Taxes)
OPPOSE: Requires new audits for tax proposals before they can go to the ballot. Funded by billionaires to avoid paying taxes and hinders our state’s future ability to raise revenue.
❌ NO on Prop 42 (Prohibits New State Personal Property Taxes)
OPPOSE: Prohibits any new taxes on personal property and investment assets. Funded by billionaires who do not want to pay their fair share and makes it harder to create a future wealth tax.
❌ NO on Prop 43 (Increases the Special Tax Threshold)
OPPOSE: Allows a minority of voters to determine the outcome of local special tax initiatives placed on the ballot. Rejects the rule that a majority of voters determines the outcome.
❌ NO on Prop 44 (Mandates 90% of Clinic Spending Only on Healthcare Services)
OPPOSE: Requires community health clinics to spend 90% of revenue on patient care only. Cuts clinics’ work on outreach and education, cultural and language services and would force many clinics to close.
❌ NO on Prop 45 (Weakens the Environmental Review Process)
OPPOSE: Weakens environmental standards by allowing certain projects to bypass existing review requirements, including narrowing the window for public comment.
County of Los Angeles:
✅ YES on Measure E (Implements LA County’s Ethics Commission)
SUPPORT: Implements an independent ethics commission for LA County and gives commissioners stronger independence from politicians to conduct oversight.
✅ YES on Measure A (Requires Binding Arbitration for LA County Public Safety Employees)
SUPPORT: Allows essential public safety employees in LA County to have a greater voice in labor disputes. Reduces the influence of politics in these decisions.
City of Los Angeles:
✅ YES on Measure TE (Property Transfer Tax Exemption for Palisades Fire Victims)
SUPPORT: Establishes a one-time property transfer tax exemption for survivors of Palisades Fire. Allows homeowners greater flexibility to decide what is next for their homes.
✅ YES on Charter Amendment LA (City Charter Changes to Infrastructure, Budget, Finance, & Contracting)
SUPPORT: Changes LA City’s budget cycle to two years, creates a Capital Infrastructure Plan, expands City Council control of Public Works, and more.
✅ YES on Charter Amendment EE (City Charter Changes on Ethics, Elections, and Governance
SUPPORT: Enshrines language access protections in the City Charter and other changes on how the City operates: changing Council meetings to weekly, raises penalties for campaign finance violations, and other ethics and accountability measures.
✅ YES on Charter Amendment PRK (Doubling the Recreation and Park Budget)
SUPPORT: Doubles the Recreation and Parks funding in LA City over ten years to provide necessary funding for park facilities, recreation programs, and more. Necessary to address lack of park space for many Angelenos.
✅ YES on Charter Amendment PRT (City Charter Changes to the Harbor and Airports)
SUPPORT: Requires LA’s Harbor Department to allocate funds for waterfront public access projects, disclose workforce impacts for leases and agreements and increase maximum lease terms. Will be a public benefit for communities living in areas surrounding the Harbor.
✅ YES on Charter Amendment SC (Aligns Campaign Finance Rules for LAUSD with LA City)
SUPPORT: Aligns campaign finance rules and requirements for candidates for LA Unified School District with the rules for the mayor. Simplifies the City Charter and makes future updating easier.
IN-LANGUAGE VOTER GUIDES:
LEARN MORE WITH THE FULL ANALYSIS:
VOTER RESOURCES
Monday, Oct 5: Vote-by-mail ballots are mailed to voters
Monday, Oct 19: Last day to register to vote in advance of Election Day. More information at registertovote.ca.gov.
Saturday, Oct 24: First day of in-person voting. Look up your vote center at lavote.gov.
Tuesday, Nov 3: Election Day from 7am – 8pm. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Nov 3. Ballots turned in at a vote center or placed in a dropbox before 8pm.
LA County is required to provide help to voters in languages other than English, including Chinese, Cambodian/Khmer, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino, Vietnamese, Hindi, Japanese, Thai, Bengali, Burmese, Gujarati, Indonesian, Mongolian, and Telugu. Click here to learn more.
If you have questions or need help voting, you can call APIAVote’s multilingual voter hotline: 1-888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683)
Bilingual assistance is available in: Bengali, Cantonese, English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Urdu.
AAPI Equity Alliance (AAPI Equity) is a coalition of 50 community-based organizations serving the diverse needs of the 1.6 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in Los Angeles County and beyond. It is dedicated to improving the lives of AAPIs through civic engagement, capacity building, and policy advocacy.