Final push in 14 states to mobilize and educate voters before November 4

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- APIAVote announces the ongoing GOTV voter contact & protection efforts of APIAVote partners to reach out to Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in the days leading to November 4. Along with partner, Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF), APIAVote is encouraging all voters to learn about their rights before they head to the polls and to volunteer with a local organization to help with voter protection and exit polling efforts.

"The level of interaction that we've had with our AAPI community has been phenomenal and unprecedented, and the numbers are increasing by the day," said Nanette Fok, APIAVote board member. "We anticipate a historic turnout that will be more than the 3 million AAPIs who voted in 2004. We now encourage everyone to focus on protecting the AAPI vote on Election Day."

"Our one-to-one voter contact strategies have really been the key to engaging AAPI voters. We are proud to announce that we have registered 18,000 new AAPI voters, and continue to reach out via mail, phone, and door-knocking to those already registered," said Kathleen Topacio-Flores, APIAVote National Campaign Director. "Over the past several months, APIAVote partners have sent out educational mailers to 100,000 AAPI voters, have knocked on 10,000 AAPI household doors and counting, have had 85,000 live conversations, and robo-called 70,000 AAPI households. We will reach thousands more by Election Day."

"Our voter contact efforts while traditional, have been strategic and grassroots, grounded in local community organizations and coalitions accountable to each of their community members. These numbers are what we can set as benchmarks for our community's capacity for long-term civic engagement," said Vida Benavides, APIAVote Executive Director.

"While ad buys and PSAs do their part to educate and inform, they really only go so far. It is really about AAPIs talking to each other-- their families, neighbors, and friends, about the issues, about voting rights, about going to the polls on Election Day," said Naomi T. Tacuyan, APIAVote Deputy Director.

"These last few days we are pushing hard to ensure that AAPI votes count and are protected. While we are reminding people to vote, we are also reminding them that they have the right to bring in assistance, like an interpreter, ask for assistance from poll workers, and fill in a provisional ballot if their names are not found on the rolls," said Topacio-Flores.

To learn more about APIAVote partners, please visit www.apiavote.org. To volunteer for voter protection and exit polling efforts on Election Day, please visit www.aaldef.org.

APIAVote is working with over 30 partner organizations and coalition partners in Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida.

APIAVote is a national non-partisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of AAPIs in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels. 

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