An Engaged Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Vote Will Be Critical in the 2024 Elections — Here’s What You Need to Know
By Gregg Orton, National Director at NCAPA
As we approach another pivotal election this November, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) could very well swing the election, as we did in 2020. That year, we saw record increases in Asian American voter participation for the presidential elections, with nearly 60% of Asian American citizens of voting age turning out to vote. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders saw the highest increase in presidential election turnout among any racial group with a 15-point increase.
AANHPIs are the fastest-growing racial group in the country, with around 17.8 million Asian adults living in the United States, 7% of the total adult population, according to Pew Research. Many were first time voters in 2020, accounting for 23% of the total voter turnout in 2020, with many more expected to vote for the first time this year. What’s more, this year, we have witnessed the largest increase in voter registration among Asian Americans compared to any other racial group.
As we flex our electoral muscles, we must also recognize the very real threats to our right to vote. For instance, voter suppression tactics, such as unfair redistricting processes and maps and lack of adequate language access at the polls, have long prevented many in our community from turning out to vote. Indeed, many states have enacted new restrictive voting laws that further affect our communities’ ability and willingness to cast their ballots. In the first half of 2023 alone, at least 11 states enacted 13 restrictive voting laws, which — among other things — curb access to voting by mail, implement stricter photo ID requirements, and shut down voter registration drives.
Strict photo ID laws and reduced early voting options disproportionately affect minority voters. This hurts AANHPI communities — and all communities of color — by diminishing our ability to vote, and silences our voices. While NCAPA and our member organizations do all we can to get out the vote among AANHPIs, elected officials must also address these issues in order to ensure our community’s full participation in American democracy.
Disinformation targeted at Asian Americans can also be a serious problem. NCAPA’s Asian American Disinformation Table has found that much disinformation exploiting internal divides and hierarchies within Asian communities and weaponizes current and historical traumas to sway the Asian American vote. The spread of disinformation is especially dangerous at a time when our country is experiencing greater political polarization — and can stoke ethnic and racial tensions within and among communities of color.
Language access remains another key issue for AAPIs, and plays a large role in determining voter turnout among our community. More than 35% of Asian Americans have limited English proficiency. Without adequate culturally and linguistically appropriate materials, they are likely unable to access voting information or understand how to participate in the electoral process. That’s why multilingual voter information campaigns are crucial in order to provide accessible voting information to non-English speaking communities.
Underrepresentation of the AANHPI vote can have dire consequences: it means that we aren’t able to fully weigh in on the issues that most affect our communities. For example, it means that policies may fail to consider our needs and our lived experiences. In the past, this has looked like AANHPIs being lumped together under an “other” category in polling data, and lack of disaggregated data that separates data on AANHPIs by ethnicity.
In contrast, the growth in recent years of our voter turnout has been undeniable, especially in swing states, where the AANHPI vote could be the deciding factor in various races. In states like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, the number of Asian Americans who cast their ballots in 2020 exceeded the presidential margin of victory. Our communities will likely continue to show up and impact future elections as we grow: Asian Americans are projected to grow to 46.2 million and become the United States’ largest immigrant group by 2060, making up 10% of the country’s population.
As we head to the polls tomorrow and look beyond this week, we must confront these and other obstacles that many in our communities face. Amidst these myriad challenges and opportunities, we cannot overstate the importance of voting rights, and of exercising our right to vote. This year, with so much on the line, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders across the country must turn out and make our voices heard, our priorities recognized. In the face of suppression tactics, elected officials and candidates should know that if they want our vote, they need to advocate for us and make sure our priorities are front and center — not just once every four years, but on an ongoing basis.
