VOTING: AAPIs plan to vote in the

134,909 ELIGIBLE AAPI VOTERS

4.5% AAPI SHARE OF ELECTORATE IN STATE

253,453 AAPI POPULATION

Over a third of the AAPI population in Colorado live in Arapahoe, Denver, and El Paso Counties.

AAPI voters prepare to vote in the “most important election of our lifetime”

Why Colorado Asian Americans Vote

“With 200,000 deaths due to COVID-19, with the racial injustice causing civil unrest nationwide, with the economy in ruins and many small businesses in danger and family separation and detention centers full of freedom seeking refugees, and with much of the country on fire and in a climate crisis, our vote is the single most powerful civil tool we have to possibly resolve any of this,” said Howard Chou, Chair of the Colorado AAPI Democrats, an initiative of the Colorado Democratic Party.

“I know people get tired of hearing it

By Annie Guo VanDan

and it would seem that every election is deemed the most important, but this is truly the most important election of our lives,” he said.

“It’s important for Asian Americans to vote because we decide who will represent us and our values and what laws will impact our daily lives,” said Priscilla Rahn, a registered Republican in Douglas County.

“It is vital for us to know what we value and then work to put great candidates into office. If we don’t vote, our voice as a community is overshadowed by politicians who will make decisions for us.”

Stephanie Tanny speaks about the movement she led to pass her first bill in 2011, which has now allocated over $1.5 million for sexual violence survivor support services and prevention education at her alma mater, Colorado State University.

For Denver community organizer Stephanie Tanny, her motivation to vote is to influence policy changes that affect communities.

“I used to be extremely shy and hated public speaking. However, I realized that speaking up and sharing your truth is the only way that any changes will be made.”

“Voting isn’t just about a particular seat or position, but about the bills that will be passed that will serve or harm our communities. As a community organizer and fundraiser over the past decade, I have seen the lasting effects that one small policy change can have,” said Tanny.

AAPI Voter Turnout

Unfortunately, in the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, the voter turnout rate has been historically lower than other groups. In the 2012 election, AAPI voter turnout was 47 percent compared to 64 percent for white eligible voters and 67 percent for African American eligible voters. In 2016, there was a slight increase with a turnout rate of 49 percent from AAPIs, although still less than half.

So why has Asian voter turnout been historically low? One reason is that when considering one in three AAPIs speak limited English, there has been limited language resources available to making voting more accessible.

Although voting divisions are required to translate their ballots when their population has more than five percent of people sharing a language other than English or 10,000 limited-English speakers, only 22 counties or cities meet that requirement for any Asian language. And despite the legal right to bring a translator with you when voting, the Department of Justice has filed 12 lawsuits since 1998, citing discriminatory malpractices by poll workers -- accused of failing to provide voters with the appropriate resources in their language or denying their translators access to the polling stations.

In Colorado, 69% of Asian Americans speak a language other than English at home, and of those, more than 44% speak English less than “very well.”

Additionally, when it comes to geography, AAPIs generally do not live in swing states, where the vast majority of political time and resources are focused. This results in AAPIs feeling that their vote is pointless. In the 2012 presidential election, voter turnout among the 12 most competitive states was at 66 percent, while voter turnout in the 39 other states was only at 57 percent.

Involvement in Political Leadership

Because voting is also not an isolated event or practice, but rather a “multigenerational habit,” often if immigrant parents do not vote, their first-generation children are less likely to vote, let alone get involved with politics.

Chou, who was born in Shanghai and immigrated to the US in 1980, recalls his first memory of being politically active was when he was 16, during the Rodney King civil unrest in 1991.

“I remember speaking at City Hall in San Mateo (California) about the injustice that Rodney King had suffered and that we can use our voices to fight the power of corruption. I didn’t see many AAPIs back then, but as I became more active, I found more and more that were advocating and working in the community to make a difference politically.”

Chou spent his younger years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He moved to Colorado in 2007, and is now the only AAPI to hold a leadership position for a political party in Colorado. He was first elected as the Vice Chair of the State Democratic Party in December of 2018 at a special vacancy election, and then re-elected to a full twoyear term in March 2019.

“It’s something I take very seriously because I have an opportunity to continue to bring our values of equity and inclusion to the forefront and continue to expand our base and work to elect leaders who truly represent the people,” said Chou about his role as Vice Chair.

“It also allows me to serve on the DNC to which I take great pride in representing Colorado values on the national scene.”

If you watched this year’s Democratic National Convention, you may have seen Chou and his family representing Colorado during the roll call for the Democratic nomination.

“I was completely floored and honored to carry the responsibility to deliver our national roll call for our state of Colorado,” he said.

“Our roll call made several top ten lists in media outlets across the country for the best roll call video. My picture was featured on CNN, MSNBC, Politico, just to name a few. I am very proud to have represented Colorado and grateful that I was given the opportunity to share my story and how the pandemic has affected working families.”

Tanny acknowledges the importance of AAPIs stepping into political leadership or elected office.

“I love when I see other AAPIs in leadership positions,” said Tanny. The

freedom and a high quality education for our children.”

“Millions of Asian immigrants have come to America in pursuit of the American dream and to escape oppressive governments. The Republican Party is the party that embraces freedom, independence and prosperity,” Rahn said.

Historically, AAPIs have been more Republican: in the 1992 presidential election, a majority of Asian Americans supported George H.W. Bush at 55 percent, and in 1996, Asian Americans still

during COVID-19. Also, I support police training policy reforms, but do not support defunding the police. We need to take a look at our criminal justice laws.” Lastly, Rahn explains that Prop 113 about the national popular vote will be on the November ballot “Our constitution was written in a way that gave states a more equal voice by using the electoral college system. Without the balance of the electoral college, certain populations could have the power to make all of the decisions. Asians make up less than six percent of Colorado’s population, so our voices could become irrelevant and it would weaken Colorado on the national stage.” Tanny is also worried about small Howard Chou and his family represent Colorado during the roll call for the workers. She added: “Whether it is Democratic nominee at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. COVID-19 or any of the myriad of amount of influence and ability to mentor Now, Asian Americans are increasingly issues that arose in 2020, many of others is an awesome responsibility. I hope voting Democrat faster than any other these problems have been around for that not only can we convince more AAPIs minority group. decades. I am most concerned about how to vote, but to get involved politically, marginalized communities are impacted. whether that is running for office or serving Key Issues Important to AAPIs We need politicians that are committed to on a local commission or board.” For Rahn, she is concerned about long term solutions.” education, the economy, and national Chou says that the current immigration AAPIs Support Both Parties and local safety. policies have greater obstacles of

Although Asian Americans only make “We have huge problems in America naturalization of citizenship and some up four percent of eligible voters in the with our approach to educating children. new immigrants are being detained and U.S., they are the fastest growing minority Progress hasn’t happened fast enough even separated at the border. group. Despite many different subgroups within our hardest to serve populations. “AAPIs also apply for a higher percentage within the population, AAPIs are now We have left behind generations of of H1B Visas that the current administration seeming to vote as a more cohesive bloc. children and it’s time that our politicians has suspended, which hinders our U.S.

Rahn, who is a public school educator, put our kids first and allow parents to have economy and innovation,” he said. “This said: “As a community, we are very more of a voice in their child’s education.” administration has also continued to use resourceful and independent. Asians She continued, “Many Asian small xenophobic and racist language in regards are often entrepreneurs and leaders in business owners have suffered under to COVID-19 and that has fueled anti-Asian innovation. We value family, religious unfair and unconstitutional mandates attacks all across the country.”

business owners, as well as essential continued to vote Republican with Bob Dole winning 48 percent of the Asian vote. Priscilla Rahn, front center, has served as the Chair of the Denver Public Schools Asian Education Advisory Council for more than 20 years.

Hopeful for a Strong AAPI Turnout in 2020

The 2020 Asian American Voter Survey, cosponsored by APIA Vote, AAPI Data, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC, shows that there may be a higher voter turnout than ever before.

“Through this survey we see that Asian Americans are ready to exercise their power to vote in person or by mail,” said John C. Yang, Advancing Justice – AAJC president.

According to the data, 54% of Asian American voters plan to vote by mail or absentee.

“We need to make sure voters are requesting their ballots, voting early when possible, and given access to any language assistance they are entitled to,” said Christine Chen, Executive Director of APIAVote.

The survey reached 1,569 Asian American registered voters nationally. Voting wasn’t the only issue top of mind for Asian Americans. At least two out of three people view immigration as extremely or very important in the election, with majorities supporting expanding access to health coverage to all people regardless of immigration status, and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

“Asian Americans saw a record high level of midterm election turnout in 2018,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, director of AAPI Data, adding that “with a majority saying that they are even more enthusiastic than usual about this election suggests that we will see record turnout for Asian Americans for a presidential election in 2020.”

See the survey results at apiavote.org/

research/2020-asian-american-voter-survey

or visit aapidata.com for additional data.

Stephanie Tanny (right) and her sister Shalyn spent an evening together filling out their ballots in 2018.

WHY AAPI VOTERS MATTER

We Shape Elections | The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) electorate is a formidable community with the power to shape and influence elections down the ticket throughout the country. Though the AAPI electorate is projected to double from 5.9 million eligible voters in 2015 to 12.2 million eligible voters in 2040, the strength of AAPI voters in many states today have been, and continue to, make their voices heard and influence the political process.

Fastest Growing Population | AAPIs remain the fastest growing populations in the United States, at a rate of 46% and 40%, respectively, between the year of 2000 and 2010. This stands in comparison to a 10% population growth rate nationally. AAPI population growth partially stems from growing numbers of Asian immigrants, with more immigration coming from Asia since 2008 than any other part of the world.

Representation Matters | There has been tremendous growth of AAPI representation throughout government. There are now over 600 AAPI elected officials in government at all levels, according to the National Asian Pacific American Political Almanac (15th ed). This includes positions in all branches of government, from legislative to judicial, local to federal. In the 2016 elections, there is an unprecedented number of AAPIs running for office across the country, including two AAPI women running for the U.S. Senate, and various new candidates for the House of Representatives.

AAPI voters are important because our voices in the political and policy discourse must reflect our priorities and needs—which may also be accomplished by electing more AAPIs to office.

Impactful Economic Strength | The growth of AAPI influence and power extends beyond the political sphere, into all aspects of American society. For example, AAPIs are integral to the success of the American economy—Census data shows that the AAPI community contributes nearly $1.1 trillion to the economy every year, and AAPI owned businesses employ 3.6 million Americans across the country.

AAPIs as business owners, consumers, and active members of America’s economy have an important role in shaping the future of our collective communities. The decisions made by today’s leaders must reflect the growing needs and roles of AAPIs in American society, beginning with appreciating the power of our votes.