IndiaPost.com - AALDEF launches Asian American Election Protection Project

NEW YORK: The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) announced details of its Asian American Election Protection Project and nonpartisan multilingual exit poll for the November 4 elections. Attorneys, law students, and community volunteers will cover 200 poll sites in 11 states with these characteristics: 1) areas with a surge in newly-registered Asian American voters; 2) jurisdictions in which Asian-language assistance is provided; or 3) polling places where Asian Americans have reported voting barriers or intimidation in recent elections.

Margaret Fung, AALDEF executive director, said: "We want to ensure that all eligible Asian Americans can participate in the electoral process and have their votes counted in this critical Presidential election." She said that AALDEF plans to poll 15,000 Asian American voters on Election Day in 11 states with large Asian American populations: New York, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Louisiana and Washington, D.C. Poll Monitoring AALDEF will monitor 200 poll sites for compliance with the Voting Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act.

Volunteer attorneys check to see whether Asian-language voting assistance is provided (such as ballots, interpreters, signs and voting materials), whether voter identification requirements are implemented in a non-discriminatory manner, and whether provisional ballots are offered to voters whose names are not in voter lists. Attorneys will also monitor settlements in recent lawsuits against New York, Boston, and Philadelphia for past violations of the Voting Rights Act.

AALDEF will offer 25 volunteer trainings in 15 cities. Volunteers can sign up to attend workshops at www.aaldef.org/vote2008. Glenn D. Magpantay, AALDEF staff attorney, said, "In the 2006 midterm elections, Asian Americans had to overcome numerous obstacles to exercise their right to vote. AALDEF volunteers identified mistranslated ballots, interpreter shortages that led to Asian American voters being turned away, and poll workers who made hostile and racist remarks about Asian American voters. AALDEF will guard against the disenfranchisement of new citizens and limited English proficient voters."

Multilingual Exit Poll AALDEF will conduct a nonpartisan exit poll of Asian American voters in 11 languages: Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Khmer, Hmong, Bengali, Arabic, Punjabi, Urdu, and Gujarati. Voters will be asked their preferences in the Presidential and local races, top reasons for their choices, party affiliations, whether they are first-time voters, use of Asian-language voting assistance, and specific problems encountered at the polls.

The AALDEF exit poll reveals vital information about Asian American voting patterns that is often overlooked in mainstream voter surveys. In the 2004 Presidential election, AALDEF polled 10,789 Asian American voters in 8 states--the largest survey of its kind in the nation. AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters in every major election since 1998, noting the steadily increasing numbers of new citizen and first-time voters. Multilingual Voter Hotline Multilingual volunteers will be at poll sites to take complaints from voters about election irregularities and other barriers to voting.

Voters can also report Election Day problems to AALDEF's toll-free Election Day Hotline at 800-966-5946, or by e-mail at votingcomplaints@aaldef.org. Election Protection Web Campaign AALDEF has launched a new web campaign with tools to encourage voter participation and to recruit volunteers across the country to serve as nonpartisan voting rights monitors in AALDEF's Asian American Election Protection Project. AALDEF is partnering with several groups to mobilize volunteer attorneys, law students, college students and community activists on Election Day.