Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Janelle Hu (APIAVote
2004), 202-223-9170
October 8, 2004
YOUNG ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS MUST HURDLE VOTING OBSTACLES
APIAVote testifies at USCCR
briefing to voting barriers faced by the youth and entire APIA community
Washington, DC - The US Commission on Civil Rights held a briefing today on
youth voting issues. During the briefing, APIAVote described many issues
complicating the voting process for Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) youth
voters. As November 2nd approaches, APIA voters, especially those that are
immigrants, must overcome numerous obstacles in the upcoming elections. While
some of the problems, unfamiliarity with the electoral process, discrimination
by poll workers and lack of language assistance, are historical issues for the
APIA community, a plethora of new issues has arisen with the government's recent
passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Due to patchy implementation by the
states and inadequate training of election workers, new procedures introduced by
HAVA may cause even more problems for APIA voters than before.
HAVA requires that first time voters must present photo identification when they
vote. Without advance knowledge of this new requirement, many APIA voters may
not have the chance to acquire or prepare such identification in time to vote.
The use of provisional ballots is another potential obstacle for voters.
Provisional ballots would be available to voters who believe they are registered
but are somehow not listed on the voter registration books, often because of
processing errors. Many such voters have been turned away from polls in the
past, and were thus prevented from voting. Unfortunately, many voters are still
unaware of the provisional ballot, will not know it is their right to request
one, or if they do receive one, may not how to use it.
Overcoming language barriers is another major issue. Section 203 of the Voting
Rights Act requires language assistance when a particular language minority
group exceeds 10,000 or 5% of voting-age citizens with the local population.
However, the goals of this legislation are often unmet or inadequate.
Interpreters and election workers need more training to be effective assisting
voters in reading a ballot, initiatives, or even how to use a machine properly.
Even in areas providing the assistance, many times there is a shortage of
interpreters, bilingual materials are often printed with translation errors, or
voters receive bilingual material in the wrong language.
"The new HAVA requirements are either unknown or unclear to many voters, who
will lose their chance to vote," said Go Kasai, APIAVote Youth Coordinator.
"Additionally, in spite of our efforts to reach out to the student population,
many remain sorely uneducated about their voting rights."
"One third of APIA voters will be first time voters, but a negative and
unwelcoming first experience at the polls will discourage rather than promote
them from future participation," said Janelle Hu, APIAVote National Director.
"APIA coalitions across the country are speeding up their efforts to equip APIA
voters with knowledge of the procedures and understanding of their rights so
they can go to the polls without fear of intimidation."
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APIAVote is a national coalition of
non-partisan nonprofit organizations that encourages civic participation and
promotes a better understanding of public policy and the electoral process among
the Asian and Pacific Islander American community. The national APIAVote
partners are APIA Greek Alliance, Asian American Online, Asian Pacific American
Institute for Congressional Studies, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance,
Hmong National Development, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum,
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National
Congress of Vietnamese Americans, National Korean American Service and Education
Consortium, Organization of Chinese Americans, Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task
Force, South Asian American Voting Youth.
APIAVote was founded in 1996 and maintains
its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
