Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
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Asian American Election Protection and Poll Monitoring
Defending Asian American Voting Rights
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New York City Primary Elections -- Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Boston, MA Preliminary Elections - Tuesday September 22, 2009
General Elections -- Tuesday, November 3, 2009
In
past elections, Asian Americans have faced a series of barriers in
exercising their right to vote. For example, poll workers were hostile
and made racist remarks, poll sites had too few interpreters to assist
Asian American voters, and translated voting materials were missing.
When the media reports on election results by specific groups, Asian
American voters are often overlooked.
In
response, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has
conducted a non-partisan survey of Asian American voters to document
Asian American voting patterns. AALDEF has also monitored the elections
for compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act, which mandates
bilingual ballots and forbids anti-Asian voter discrimination.
On
September 15 and 22, 2009 and November 3, 2009, AALDEF along with
several other Asian American groups will be monitoring the elections
and conducting non-partisan voter surveys at polling sites in Asian
American neighborhoods across New York City and Boston, Massachusetts.
We need your help.
Volunteers
are needed to administer a multilingual voter survey in 3-hour shifts
and document voting problems on Election Day. Polls are open from 6:00
AM to 9:00 PM in New York and 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM in Boston. There will
be a one-hour training session for all volunteers (90 minutes for
trainings taking place at law firms). All volunteers must be
non-partisan during the time they help.
To sign up as a volunteer and for a training schedule, go to www.aaldef.net. Thank you!
WHY?
- Many Asian American candidates are running for City Council such
as in Manhattan's Chinatown (District 1), Jackson Heights area
(district 25), Floral Park area (District 23), and Flushing and Bayside
(District 20 and 19). An Asian American, John Liu, is also running for
City Comptroller. So we definitely want to see how Asian Americans
support these candidates as well as others.
-Volunteering for the 9/15 Primary is particularly important
because many of these Asian American candidates are running for the
Democratic candidacy. So if they cannot survive the Primary, we will
not see them in the General. So it's important that we collected
survey data now as this may be our only chance.
- NY requires bilingual ballots and voting materials in Korean and
Chinese. Volunteers will monitor and document any issues voters
encounter with accessing the vote.
- Finally, this is a good opportunity for students interested in
interacting and helping their local community. Issues like language
access may hit very close to home for some who are from these areas.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Glenn D. Magpantay, Bryan Lee, or Julia Yang
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
99 Hudson Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10013
800-966-5946
CO-SPONSORS:
Asian American Bar Association of New York
Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts
Chhaya CDC - NY
Greater Boston Legal Services: Asian Outreach Unit
Hunter College/CUNY, Asian American Studies Program
Korean American Association of Greater New York
Korean American League for Civic Action - NY
Korean American Voters' Council of NY/NJ
Muslim Bar Association of New York
The Sikh Coalition - NY
South Asian Bar Association of New York
South Asian Youth Action! - NY
YKASEC: Empowering Korean American Community - NY
