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WASHINGTON – This year, the number of eligible Asian American voters will reach a new record of more than 11 million.
Historically, voter turnout among Asian Americans has been tepid. In 2016, more than 64 percent of white Americans turned out to vote, compared to just 49 percent of eligible Asian Americans.
But this year, many Asian Americans are hoping that a new enthusiasm for political engagement will translate ever-increasing numbers into real political influence.
“It is up to each and every one of us to vote,” New York creative director Praveen Vajpeyi, 57, told The Straits Times.
“We cannot be left out of this. And people feel a deep need to participate.”
The sentiment seems widespread.
“The levels of enthusiasm are high,” concluded AAPI Data, a demographic data and policy research publisher on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, from its just released 2020 Asian American Voter Survey.
The poll is based on a national sample of 1,569 registered Asian American voters, conducted from July 4 to September 10. It covers Chinese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Filipino voters, and is offered in English, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. .
More than half (54 percent) of registered Asian-Americans said they are more excited than usual about voting, compared to previous elections, AAPI said.
DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT
Additionally, a majority (54 percent) planned to vote for Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden compared to 30 percent who planned to support President Donald Trump.
Biden was strongly favored among all national origin groups surveyed except Vietnamese Americans.
Indian Americans are more likely to identify as Democrats, at 50 percent, while Vietnamese Americans are more likely to identify as Republicans, at 42 percent.
And 14 percent of registered Asian-American voters remained undecided, with Chinese-Americans being the highest (22 percent) in that category.
NEW GENERATION
Citizen naturalization roughly doubled between 2000 and 2018. Second- and third-generation Indian immigrants are less engaged than their parents in their former countries and are growing up as Americans.
The increase in engagement comes in part from people who have grown up in the U.S. in the past 20 to 30 years, whose parents were immigrants, who are now more integrated and involved in American society, says Andrew Shiue, 44, a professional Taiwanese American lawyer in New York.
In an interview, Shiue mentioned Andrew Yang’s candidacy as a turning point.
Yang could have been a contender.
The billionaire Californian businessman’s bid for the Democratic Party nomination did not survive the primaries, but despite some Asian-Americans shrugging off his “The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man who likes maths!” shtick, left an impression.
“By relying on the stereotype, Yang effectively said: Remind me, why should I be defensive about this?” Wesley Yang, author of the book The Souls Of Yellow Folk, wrote in October 2019 in the Washington Post, when Yang’s campaign was still active.
He had “gone from being a novelty candidate to providing insight into a future in which Asian Americans become universal figures in American political life and realize their potential not just to serve but to lead,” he wrote. Wesley Yang.
NEGLIGENCE
However, the majority of Asian Americans have not been contacted by any of the major parties in this cycle.
“Political parties have yet to harness the power of the Asian-American vote despite the fact that many remain persuasive,” the AAPI poll concluded.
“The 2020 Asian American Voter Survey shows that approximately half of all respondents were not contacted by any of the major parties. With a response above the average of voters who do not subscribe to either party, the reach of the party will be critical to Asian American voters. “
Asian Americans are as diverse a group as Asians, of course. And although they generally lean toward Democrats, the business community tends to be conservative and favors low taxes.
But overall, the majority will vote based on issues, of which there are currently three big ones: racial discrimination, the economic crisis that is not being addressed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and immigration.
ENOUGH, SAYS THE HOUSE
Separately, on Thursday (September 17), Asian Americans received good news on the first issue, when the House, in a vote of 243-164, passed a resolution condemning “all forms of anti-Asian sentiment in relationship with Covid-19 “.
The move came after an increase in racist harassment in recent months, primarily of Chinese-Americans, particularly in the wake of President Donald Trump blaming China, although the Trump administration tries to separate the Chinese government from the Chinese people, for the pandemic.
Ms. Grace Meng, the Democratic congresswoman from New York, the main sponsor of the resolution, said the vote showed that “the House said, ‘Enough.’
“For months, Asian Americans in my home state of New York and in communities across the country have been verbally and physically attacked, spat upon, and rejected,” he said.
“Enough of the degrading uses of ‘Chinese virus’, ‘Wuhan virus’ and ‘Kung-flu’, especially from our nation’s leaders such as President Trump,” he said. “Enough of the scapegoats.”
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