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Young APIAs Must Hurdle Voting Obstacles
APIAVote testifies at USCCR briefing to voting barriers faced by the
youth and entire APIA community
By APIAVote.org
Washington, DC - October 8, 2004 - The US Commission on Civil Rights
held a briefing today on youth voting issues. During the briefing,
APIAVote described many issues complicating the voting process for Asian
Pacific Islander American (APIA) youth voters. As November 2nd
approaches, APIA voters, especially those that are immigrants, must
overcome numerous obstacles in the upcoming elections. While some of
the problems, unfamiliarity with the electoral process, discrimination
by poll workers and lack of language assistance, are historical issues
for the APIA community, a plethora of new issues has arisen with the
government's recent passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Due to
patchy implementation by the states and inadequate training of election
workers, new procedures introduced by HAVA may cause even more problems
for APIA voters than before.
HAVA requires that first time voters must present photo
identification when they vote. Without advance knowledge of this new
requirement, many APIA voters may not have the chance to acquire or
prepare such identification in time to vote. The use of provisional
ballots is another potential obstacle for voters. Provisional ballots
would be available to voters who believe they are registered but are
somehow not listed on the voter registration books, often because of
processing errors. Many such voters have been turned away from polls in
the past, and were thus prevented from voting. Unfortunately, many
voters are still unaware of the provisional ballot, will not know it is
their right to request one, or if they do receive one, may not how to
use it.
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Overcoming language barriers is another major issue. Section 203 of
the Voting Rights Act requires language assistance when a particular
language minority group exceeds 10,000 or 5% of voting-age citizens with
the local population. However, the goals of this legislation are often
unmet or inadequate. Interpreters and election workers need more
training to be effective assisting voters in reading a ballot,
initiatives, or even how to use a machine properly. Even in areas
providing the assistance, many times there is a shortage of
interpreters, bilingual materials are often printed with translation
errors, or voters receive bilingual material in the wrong language.
"The new HAVA requirements are either unknown or unclear to many
voters, who will lose their chance to vote," said Go Kasai, APIAVote
Youth Coordinator. "Additionally, in spite of our efforts to reach out
to the student population, many remain sorely uneducated about their
voting rights."
"One third of APIA voters will be first time voters, but a negative
and unwelcoming first experience at the polls will discourage rather
than promote them from future participation," said Janelle Hu, APIAVote
National Director. "APIA coalitions across the country are speeding up
their efforts to equip APIA voters with knowledge of the procedures and
understanding of their rights so they can go to the polls without fear
of intimidation."
Other Readings of Interest
Contact: Janelle Hu (APIAVote 2004), 202-223-9170
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