• Overall, APIA Vote counted local APIA voter projects in 20 states and 25 cities proving APIAs are more excited than ever to participate in the political process. 
• The APIA Vote coalition coordinated a comprehensive voter mobilization campaign in eight states where APIAs had the highest concentration of eligible voters in 2004.   
• The APIA Vote campaign focused on Nevada, Minnesota, and Washington where the APIA population skyrocketed in recent years and community activism is on the rise.   
• Building leadership amongst APIA women, APIA Vote worked with the National Asian Pacific American Women’s forum and over a dozen APIA sororities to train and mobilize the APIA Woman Vote.

• APIA Vote conducted 28 live community voter outreach trainings across the nation; 13 with community-based organizations (NV, MI, MN, HI, CA, DC, CT, FL) and 15 with APIA youth leaders (CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, TX, VA, WA, WI).
• With sparse resources, the APIA Vote coalition registered over 45,000 new APIA voters and conducted absentee ballot outreach with 133,500 APIAs, running an impressive “Get-Out-The-Vote” campaign that tipped the electoral scales in states like Minnesota, Nevada, and Washington. 
• The APIA Voter Education Project developed and used language specific materials and resources for the APIA community to empower themselves with the knowledge and understanding of how important voting is and how it impacts their daily lives, disseminating over 231,529 pieces of multi-lingual literature.
• Get-Out-The-Vote efforts in 2004 recruited 5,700 volunteers and turned out a record number of APIA voters, increasing organizing and participation among APIA community-based organizations from coast to coast who made over 175,000 phone calls to APIAs in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Hmong, and Cambodian, held 29 educational forums in 16 states, canvassed over 3,000 APIA households and hosted 97 post-debate house parties nation-wide and post-debate conference call with APIA representatives from the Bush and Kerry campaigns.
• The APIA Vote website and listserv of 1,200+ activists provided a portal of information, linking community activists and volunteers throughout the campaign.  
• Critical to the campaign, multiple measures aimed at protecting the APIA vote and ensuring APIA voters their right to cast ballots on November 2, including poll monitoring and exit polling in 12 states and 100 poll sites across the U.S. that hosts the highest concentration of APIA voters.
• In the midst of all the activity lies the revolutionary story of APIA youth and movement-building work.  South Asian American Voting Youth built a model of mentoring and organizing in the electoral realm, National Asian American Student Conference prioritized election advocacy for the first time in 2004, and for the first time in history, APIA sororities and fraternities joined a coordinated effort to mobilized 20,004 APIA youth to vote.

ELECTION 2004: THE RESULTS

What are the final numbers?  How did APIAs vote?

• National APIA Vote partner Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s exit poll results of over 11,000 APIA voters surveyed in 20 cities in 8 states revealed 38% of the polled Asian-Americans were first-time voters.  Of these citizens, 74% voted for Senator John Kerry, 24% for President George W. Bush, and 2% for other candidates. 
• Mainstream polling such as the popular CNN and NY Times, respectively, revealed that 44% and 41% of the APIA population voted for President Bush, and 56% and 58% for Democratic Candidate John Kerry.
• Regardless of how APIA's were polled in November, it is widely recognized that APIA votes do matter and the APIA community will continue to support candidates who provide substantive support for policy measures that address the issues of primary concern to the APIA community such as jobs and the economy, education, health care, immigration reform, hate crimes, and racial profiling.
  

INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDING BEYOND 2004

• As a follow-up to the community’s hard work and innovation, APIA Vote convened a national debrief of the election with national and local APIA community groups. 
• With the APIA population growing at an exponential rate, APIA voters will play a much larger role in future elections.
• Armed with great energy and experience, APIA Vote is ready to overcome the barriers and challenges to building a national institution devoted to APIA civic engagement work. 
• The APIA Vote effort not only aims to encourage our community to register and vote, but to convey a message to the public at large that a new APIA generation is serious about being a part of the American democracy by becoming a visible voting constituency. 
              
  WHEN WE VOTE, WE WIN! - Stephen E. Nadal  (1969 - 2004)