Asian-American Vote Could Impact US Election

Asian-Americans have largely been ignored by U.S. politicians, but they might provide a valuable edge within the upcoming presidential election, says new polling data.

According to recently released census data, Asian-Americans are the fastest growing minority group within the U.S. population. The population has grown 46 percent because the 2000 census, and Asian-Americans now number greater than 17 million nationwide. In keeping with Lake Research, which conducted the poll, Asian-Americans represented two percent of the electorate in 2008, with 48 percent of eligible voters turning out.

The polling was conducted in numerous states, including Florida, Nevada and Virginia, what usually are key swing states within the November presidential election.

“Every vote counts, especially in a good election. If Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders vote on the same level they did last time, it can mean increasing margins for the party they like - 47,000 more votes in Virginia than last election, 33,000 more in Florida and 9,000 more in Nevada,” said Christine Chen, acting executive director of APIAVote, which fits to mobilize Asian-American and Pacific Islander voters.

“Political leaders must engage this rapidly growing voting bloc within the conversation. We're working with dozens of community-based groups to get AAPIs curious about the method, but locally we've barely been contacted by either party,” she said.

The survey showed Asian-Americans largely are likely to identify themselves as Democrats by greater than a 3-to-one margin. Fifty-nine percent of Asian-Americans favored U.S. President Barack Obama, while only 13 percent preferred presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Twenty-seven percent said they were undecided. That Democrat-Republican split remained largely unchanged because the 2008 election.

Despite the tendency to favor Democratic candidates, only 23 percent of these surveyed said they'd been contacted by the Democratic Party formerly two years. Only 17 percent said they'd been contacted by the Republican Party.

Republican National Committee spokesperson Alexandra Franceschi says the party is ramping up its voter contact because it looks towards the overall election.

"The RNC is committed to engaging as many citizens as possible across America. We'll be reaching out with our economic message, because all Americans are struggling to make ends meet under the Obama Administration,” she said.

The Democratic Party failed to return calls, but does have a piece on its online page devoted to Asian-Americans.

Asian-American civic leaders say politicians should be mistaken to disregard their voting bloc.

“Since candidates and political parties don't believe-from a countrywide perspective-that the dimensions of our population is essential, they dismiss us,” said Mee Moua, the president and executive director of the Asian-American Justice Center, which fits to advance the human and civil rights of Asian Americans. “But what the poll confirmed is that during local, state and congressional races-especially in states with high Asian American concentrations-we've got the aptitude to make an immense difference and influence the result, so candidates who ignore us accomplish that at their very own peril.”

From WhatNewsToday.net

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