| | | Our Vision, Our Voice, Our Future | Issue 4: October 27, 2008 | |
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| Dear [[First_Name]], Only 7 days left until the election-- are you prepared? APIAVote is proud to announce two new resources for AAPI voters. We have provided a simple candidate comparison to guide voters through the two candidates' policy priorities; in addition, we've prepared a postcard guide that helps you prepare for Election Day and informs you of your rights at the polls. In addition, APIAVote has relaunched www.apiavote.org! Full of new resources and tools, we hope it becomes a daily stop for voters and organizers looking for news and information about the AAPI vote. View PSAs, attend an Upcoming Event in your area, download some posters in our Voter Resources section and more. Please let us know if we can add anything else that would be helpful to AAPI voters and organizers. | |
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| After You Register
 I've registered to vote; now what? In addition to learning about the issues and candidates in order to make an informed decision at the polls, you can volunteer to mobilize the AAPI vote. Our Events calendar has links to daily phonebank, canvassing and flyering activities nationwide. On Election Day, you can also volunteer to conduct exit polling to make sure that AAPIs have fair access to the polls.
Here are some tips for Election Day:
| What's New
Recapping our National Day of Action  APIAVote & partners around the country held a successful Day of Action on Saturday, October 4, 2008. Kathleen Topacio-Flores, our National Campaign Director, has been keeping tabs on our partners' registration numbers, and is proud to announce that we have registered over 16,000 new AAPI voters... and counting! We are still waiting on final tallies from some of our partners, as we move on to voter mobilization and voter protection.
Protecting the AAPI Vote APIAVote wants to emphasize the importance of voter rights and protection. We have issued a postcard that educates voters on how to prepare to vote, and just as importantly, know their rights at the polls. In addition, we are partnered with the Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF) and are encouraging our supporters to volunteer to do exit polling and voter protection work on Election Day. Please learn more about voter protection activities at www.aaldef.org, and sign up in the city nearest you! APIAVote Sightings
APIAVote staff has also been busy with speaking engagements, outreach events, and trainings across the country. In late September, Gloria Caoile, APIAVote board member, and Jared Jonson, APIAVote-WA organizer spoke on a NaFFAA panel about the power of political participation. Jared also updated the crowd on APIAVote-WA's efforts to register voters, educate voters on important ballot measures, and get voters to turn out on Election Day.
Alvina Yeh, our program coordinator, recently spoke to students at NAASCON, the National Asian American Student Conference, in Atlanta, Georgia. Alvina also presented a workshop on voter mobilization to students at the University of Maryland, College Park. Earlier this month, board member Janelle Hu spoke on a panel at an Asian American class at the University of Maryland, College Park on AAPI political participation.
In early October, Naomi T. Tacuyan, our deputy director, flew to Nevada to train One Nevada organizers on building relationships and working with media so that their activities are covered, and the media can help educate the public about the importance of voting and the growing prominence of AAPIs. At the APIAHF Health Summit, board members Lisa Hasegawa and Doua Thor spoke to participants about models of strategic partnering and organizing towards a national health policy agenda.
National Asian American Survey
If you have not heard, the National Asian American Survey (full survey report can be found at www.naasurvey.com) was released, its major notable result being that 34% of likely Asian American voters remain undecided, as of the third week of September. With this high percentage of undecided voters AND our increasing numbers in highly contested states, APIAVote called the campaigns and political parties to task. We also underscore the importance of APIAVote's nonpartisan work on the ground, engaging our AAPI voters even as they try to make up their minds about for whom to vote.
See our news release about undecided AAPI voters and additional state-by-state information here: http://www.apiavote.org/newsroom/press-releases/2008/asian-americans-pacific-islander-voters-
Be sure to visit the APIAVote Newsroom at www.apiavote.org/newsroom to stay up to date with the latest news!
APIAVote Strategy Sessions/Coalition Calls
Over the past two weeks, APIAVote has been holding various "strategy session" calls to mobilize our partners, and help coordinate efforts around cities and activities. APIAVote hosted topic-specific calls to rally those doing the mobilization and to strategize about message-specific outreach. Leading and organizing the calls were former Secretary Norm Mineta, chair of APIAVote's Leadership Institute, and partners APIAHF, National CAPACD, NAAPIMHA, AAPCHO, and IW Group. Representatives from CAUSE, New American Media, AAJC, KTSF, AT&T, Verizon, and other media and corporate entities participated in the calls as well. | APIAVote Partner's Corner
 APIAVote partners have reached many AAPIs while conducting voter registration drives, phone banks, canvassing, flyering, etc in their states. Through these efforts, AAPIs are registered, educated, and ready to vote on November 4. For more details and to get involved, view our list of partners and upcoming events.
A recap of the latest activities: - NAKASEC's efforts in Los Angeles and Chicago have registered over 12,000 voters, and they continue to walk precincts and conduct in-language robo calls.
- The Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans has been registering folks since early September. They are beginning to phone bank registered voters this week.
- The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement conducted voter registration at their Annual Convention, one of the largest gatherings of Native Hawaiians nationwide, and also held a Policy Roundtable and Town hall with state legislators to discuss top Native Hawaiian policy priorities.
- The Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota has been busy sending in-language mailers and begin their phone banking this week. They have also advertised on Lao and Thai TV networks.
- APIAVote-MI has been canvassing vigorously since earlier this month. In addition they have placed ads in multiple ethnic newspapers. They also have weekly phone banks and are conducting exit polling with AALDEF. On Monday, Oct 27th, they also hosted a Ballot Issues and Voter Rights forum event with Congressman Mike Honda in attendance.
- One APIA Nevada has phone banked unregistered voters since late September, and done site-based registration, registering at least 1,000 new AAPI voters. With early voting starting, One Nevada is now focused on the early vote and voter protection.
- The APA Network of Oregon (APANO) phone banks Oregon voters daily, emphasizing several important ballot iniatives.
- APIAVote-Philadelphia has been mobilizing student volunteers to phone bank and do door-to-door canvassing.
- APIAVote-Washington has been hosting phone banks. In addition, they are hosting a "Trick or Vote" event on Halloween to energize people to vote and educate people about important initiatives on the ballot.
- The Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance has been phonebanking every night for the past several weeks.
| Volunteer Opportunities
 Get involved! If you are registered and ready to vote, help others register and vote too! Are you in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Oregon,Washington and Hawaii? APIAVote partner organizations all across the country need your help to turn out the vote in their communities. To VOLUNTEER, please view a list of upcoming events at www.apiavote.org/events
Become a poll worker on election day! Poll workers are paid to set up voting equipment, greet voters, verify registrations and help run the polls. Poll workers of bilingual ability are also greatly needed. For more information, go to the Election Assistance Commission's website: http://www.eac.gov/voter/poll%20workers Protect the AAPI Vote! Volunteers are needed in several states to conduct exit polling in AAPI-heavy polling sites. For more information go to http://www.apiavote.org/election-protection. Calling all documentary filmmakers! We want AAPI stories documented this historic election year. Know a new citizen and first-time voter? Any issues at your polling site? Let us know via a short film what civic engagement looks like in your AAPI community! APIAVote invites you to document up to five to ten minutes of GOTV activities, and submit it to be featured on our APIAVote YouTube page. Please email entries to info@apiavote.org. | |
| Facts at a Glance Nearly 7 million Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders are eligible to vote! REGISTER TO VOTE TODAY! Countdown To Election Day! Only 7 days until Election Day 2008! | | 1666 K St NW Suite 440
Washington, DC 20006
info@apiavote.org
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