The Importance of AAPI Civic Engagement
Artwork by Olivia Zhang
As a high school student, I became involved in civic engagement through recognizing the importance of having accurate representation and addressing barriers to voting. While the number of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) elected officials have increased, the incredibly diverse AAPI communities across the U.S. are still not fully represented. Despite AAPIs being 6.1% of the population, only 0.9% of elected officials are AAPI as of May 2020, according to a report by the Reflective Democracy Campaign. Voting is an important way to address underrepresentation and other key issues, but young people and AAPI communities face unrelenting barriers to being involved.
Asian Americans are often stigmatized as apathetic or uninterested in voting. However, the root problem to the low voter turnout is not apathy—rather, it is the barriers to voting that so many communities continue to face, from language and transportation barriers to stigma. For example, many Asian Americans were not contacted by a political party or by community organizations for the 2020 elections, according to insights from the 2020 Asian American Voter Survey. However, this CIRCLE study found that 67% of Asian American youth were contacted by other young people about the 2020 election or important issues. I found this statistic incredibly insightful, showing the power of communities to inspire each other. At the same time, the lack of engagement from political parties and organizations indicates a barrier to AAPI communities’ political participation.
There have been improvements in voter turnout rates for presidential, midterm, and other elections in recent years. From the 2016 to the 2020 presidential elections, AAPI Data reported that turnout for Asian Americans increased from 49% to 60%, and for Pacific Islanders increased from 41% to 56%. In 2022, 23% of eligible young people voted—which was the second-highest youth voter turnout in midterm elections in recent decades, according to a study by CIRCLE. In New York City specifically, the turnout for young Asian Americans in the mayoral primary election increased from 7% in 2013 to 22% in 2021, the largest increase of all age groups for Asian Americans, as expressed in a report from the Asian American Federation. However, voter turnout for young people is still lower than turnout for other age groups. We have seen recent improvements to youth and AAPI voter turnout rates, and it is crucial to continue empowering communities.
Voting can be an intimidating process, especially for people who face barriers to voting. Many incredible organizations are working on civic engagement and Get Out the Vote efforts to address such barriers and motivate people to vote. Earlier this year, I started interning at Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), a leading nonpartisan nonprofit organization that engages, educates, and empowers AAPI communities. I learned about the role of civic engagement in helping communities create long-lasting change. APIAVote has many initiatives, including empowering youth voters, providing helpful resources about voting in various languages, researching AAPI communities, supporting partner organizations, and much more. Through continued Get Out the Vote efforts, we can further encourage AAPI communities and young people to vote.
