Asian Americans Rally Community To Vote
October 19, 2008
Three APAs who are helping spread voter education
With each election, the number of Asian Americans who work to educate and organize voters in the community increases exponentially. But even veteran campaign watchers admit that the level of interest in this year’s elections among the Asian American community is unprecedented, due in no small part to the many Asian Americans working to get the vote out in the community.
“The Asian American voters I’ve talked to are certainly excited about this election — they understand this is a fork in the road for our country,” said Grande Lum, a Burlingame resident and member of Obama’s National Asian American Leadership Council.
As an advisor to the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign, he says his focus in recent months has been to shift the large API majority who supported Hillary Clinton in the primary election to Obama’s side. “It’s a matter of educating voters about the two candidates’ track records and getting people who are busy with their careers and families to care about going to the polls on Nov. 4,” noted Lum, whose campaign work has included fundraising, phonebanking and blogging for The Huffington Post. On the Republican side, Kishan Kumar Putta has been working for months to convince the South Asian community that McCain is the candidate who will bring real change. A journalist turned policy consultant, Putta co-founded and directs the group Indians for McCain. But for Andrew Kao, it’s not about which candidate one supports, but that every eligible Asian American registers to vote and then goes to the polls to make informed decisions. With his new non-partisan umbrella group, Silicon Valley Votes, the Internet product manager is collaborating with dozens of Silicon Valley professional organizations to educate API voters and increase interest in the political process via regular e-mail blasts and worksite meetings. “Most young Asian American professionals are affluent and well-educated, but apolitical,” Kao said. Indeed, surveys show that Asian Americans have lower rates of voter registration and participation than whites and blacks. To address this issue, Kao’s group is doing electronic outreach and sponsoring free voter information sessions.
“People will care if they see that voting does affect their everyday lives,” said Kao. “With the financial crisis, suddenly everyone cares a lot more about how their pocketbooks will be affected by what happens at the polls.”
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