Washington, DC — Today is National Voter Registration Day, and SEARAC is excited to celebrate the occasion with the launch of our 2020 Presidential Election Voter Guide now available with written and audio translations in: Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Mien, and Vietnamese. (Note: We are still finalizing the Lao formatted voter guide, but the plain text version is currently available in Lao.)
Asian Americans represent the fast-growing segment of the general electorate out of all major racial and ethnic groups in the United States. According to our friends at APIAVote, more than 11 million Asian Americans, or 5% of the country’s eligible voters, will be able to cast a vote in the upcoming election. Furthermore, once completing their voter registration, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have comparable turnout rates compared to other communities. Yet, one of the largest hurdles to our communities’ civic participation is voter registration.
“According to the 2010 census, the Southeast Asian American community stands at 2.7 million strong, and we can translate our communities’ growing numbers into political strength by breaking down cultural barriers that stand in the way of civic engagement,” said Alyssa Tulabut, Senior Field Manager at SEARAC. “We have the power to hold our elected officials accountable and to bring in leadership who will show up for refugee and immigrant communities. It is our hope that with these written and audio translations of our voter guide, you, your loved ones, and your communities feel empowered to make an informed vote on Election Day, or before if you are voting early.”