RECAP: AAPI Progressive Talks #2

 
AAPIProgressiveTalks2_zoom2.png

Last week, we hosted AAPI Progressive Talks #2: Mobilizing AAPI Voters in Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina. We were joined by three amazing speakers from these key states: 

  • AZ: Ian Danley, Executive Director of Arizona WINS

  • FL: Josh Geise, Florida State Director at America Votes

  • NC: Chavi Khanna Koneru, Executive Director of NCAAT in Action

If you missed the conversation, here’s are some of the key takeaways: 

Arizona

Since 2014, Arizona has seen progressive trends in a historically Republican state. This shift was due in part by a strong ground game, an increasingly diverse electorate, and increased voter turnout. AAPIs are the fastest growing ethnic group in Arizona and make up roughly 2.8% of the voting-age population. But only 40% of the AAPI voting-age population are registered due to inadequate AAPI coverage on the voter file. Further, AAPIs had a low voter turnout in both 2016 and 2018. AAPI voters are generally more progressive compared to all Arizona voters, meaning there is a huge opportunity for AAPIs to make a big difference in Arizona. 

While everything has moved to remote work for the time being, Arizona Wins is going to continue their Strategic Imperatives to ensure that voters have access to cast their ballots in a safe manner and engage with voters via calls, text, digital, and relational work to GOTV. There’s also a push for legislation to send mail ballots to every voter while still preserving in-person voting. 

Florida

We saw a similar situation in Florida, where the electorate continues to become more diverse and voter registration has increased by 40% since 2008. Similarly, AAPI voters have seen substantial growth since 2008 but the majority of them are not affiliated with either party. 

America votes is continuing its efforts during Covid-19 to preserve robust, safe in-person options, provide broad access to mail ballots, minimize disparity in access to voters of color, young voters, and movers in order to ensure that we have elections with public confidence. 

North Carolina 

North Carolina is another state that’s seen major growth in the AAPI population. Since 2000, AAPI population growth has increased by 144%. But similarly, 40% of North Carolina’s eligible AAPI voters are not even registered to vote and only 56% of eligible voters participated in the last presidential election. NCAAT in Action has been working to bridge that gap by providing in-language resources in the most prominent AAPI languages in the state. But, like many states, there’s much room for development in this strategy, especially in the C4 space. 

—

So what we’re seeing is that AAPIs continue to be major players in key states. We’re among the fastest growing populations in all of them, but we are falling behind in voter registration and voter turn out. These local organizations play a crucial role in making sure we get those numbers up. If you’re interested in learning more about or supporting any of these groups, their information is below. 

Arizona: Arizona Wins

Website: http://az-wins.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArizonaWins/

Florida: America Votes

Website: https://americavotes.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericaVotesOrg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmericaVotes

North Carolina: NCAAT In Action

Website: http://ncaatinaction.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ncaatinaction

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ncaatinaction

Instagram: instagram.com/ncaatinaction

Visuals from this presentation are available here. 

 
Guest User