Understanding The Asian-American Vote
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Choi looks forward to voting in the election. He said he won’t vote for President Barack Obama because of the president's support for non-biblical values such as gay marriage.
The president also doesn’t seem to support Israel as much as his predecessors did, he added.
“My vote matters,” Choi said. “I am given the right to vote and therefore I should participate in caring for the future of this nation for it to be led in a godly way.”
Choi's decision to vote stands out from many Asian-Americans. They have a historically low voting rate and a low profile of political participation.
The National Asian American Survey recently showed that of all Asian-Americans, 25 percent of Chinese voters, 13 percent of Indian voters and 11 percent of Korean voters are likely to cast a ballot in the 2012 presidential election.
As the fastest growing minority group, the Asian American population grew 46 percent from 2000 to 2010. In 2008, 589,000 new Asian-American voters entered the electorate.
John Lin, a political commentator on "8Asians," an Asian-American community blog, said the problem is particularly among the first generation of Asian-Americans, which makes up 60 percent of all Asian-Americans. He explained that new immigrants are more likely to focus on establishing themselves and settling down in the new country, and they might also face the challenge of language and understanding new political institutions.
“When you are an immigrant in a new country you are never going to be actively involved in politics,” Lin said.
Another thing preventing the first generation of Asian-Americans from voting is the political background they had in their home countries. For example, Taiwan’s first direct presidential election started in 1996. South Korea has a longer democratic history, while the Japanese, ashamed of being sent to concentration camps during World War II, estranged themselves from politics, Lin said.
The fragmented Asian community poses a challenge for political campaigns. Clark Lee, the California Democratic Party's Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Chair, says it takes a lot more man power to campaign among Asians because of the different languages. Their strategy is to reach out one person at a time.
“You are talking about an extremely diverse community, unlike any of the demographic,” Lee said.
Lee ran the targeted field campaign of Representative Judy Chu's, the first Chinese-American elected to Congress. Though registered with a party, many Asian-Americans don’t usually vote for the candidate in their party, Lee said.
The National Asian American Survey reported that 51 percent of Asian-Americans are independent voters.
The first generation of Asian-Americans also has a competing interest with American politics, Lee said. They tend to pay more attention to politics in their home countries.
National, statewide, or local, many candidates and campaigns will shy away from Asian-Americans because of the complicated nature of their vote requires spending more resources and manpower to reach out.
“Stay engaged with the community, because that’s the way to win...” Lee said.
Compared to the first generation, the second and third generations have political behavior similar to other ethnicities.
Born and raised in California, Janice Tanaka said she is going to vote for Obama. She said because Obama has an Asian sister and has lived in Hawaii, he has an unique understanding of the diversity in the Asian and Pacific-American community.
“Asians should be involved in the election process because it will determine the taxes we pay, the policies we live by and issues such as those affecting immigration and immigrant rights,” Tanaka said.
