By Shira Laucharoen and Mandy Sun
With the 2020 presidential election approaching, political participation and civic engagement are more crucial than ever. According to the Pew Research Center, Asian Americans are the fastest growing body of eligible voters out of the United States’ major ethnic and racial groups. In the Greater Boston area, advocates and organizers are working to increase voter activity among Asian Americans, while addressing the barriers that some may still continue to encounter.
Immigrant voters in the Asian American community still face challenges in the voting process, such as difficulty with language, for those who are not native English speakers. In 2014, Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation into law, permanently demanding translations in Chinese and Vietnamese for precincts where there was a significant population of speakers of these languages. This was a step forward, said Karen Chen, Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA). Previously, there was a “sunset provision” on the original plan, meaning it would expire after a specific date until further action was taken. This year, according to the Press Office of the City of Boston, the mail in presidential ballots will be available in Chinese and Vietnamese in all precincts.
Elderly voters may also experience difficulties, said Chen, as they may have visibility impairments or shaky hands. Lydia Lowe, a board member of the Chinese Progressive Political Action, said that elderly voters were once coerced and told whom to vote for at the polls. Within Chinatown, there had been cases of voter fraud. Individuals would go to senior housing buildings under the pretense of assisting elders with their ballots, only to manipulate them into voting for a specific candidate.
Today, the coronavirus presents new complications. Local organizations have made efforts to encourage voting in the Asian American community despite these challenges.
“Even with bilingual ballots, a lot of the elderly can’t read it because the characters are too small,” said Lowe. “A lot of the elderly have difficulty filling out any kind of a form, let alone a ballot, the return envelope, and signatures. And then the fact that we have the pandemic is really difficult, because where are they going to get the help? If somebody comes to their door and says, ‘I’m here to help you,’ they’re going to take that help. It does make them vulnerable.”
Other organizations, like the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) and the CPA, will be running phone banks, making sure that prospective voters have access to mail in voting and know their rights. Carolyn Chou, Executive Director of AARW, said that she is hoping residents will become more civically engaged, even in the face of barriers.
“It’s kind of about connecting these big moments, like national elections, where everyone’s talking about voting, to what’s happening in our neighborhoods and communities,” said Chou. “We’re talking about issues we’re organizing around, like gentrification and housing, immigration, really talking to folks about the issues and using the election as an opportunity to see what residents care about.”
In the city of Malden, voting centers have reported acts of discrimination and noncompliance to section 203, which guarantees bilingual voting assistance through ballots, poll workers, announcements and materials. In hopes of tackling this issue, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has been monitoring 203-covered jurisdictions. In June, they co-wrote a letter with Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) to be sent to the city over the various acts of discrimination during the November 2019 and March 2020 elections.
In the letter, they stated their concern that 70% of the poll sites they observed did not provide any interpreters and translated materials.
GBLS’s Asian Outreach Unit has been working closely with community organizations like CPA and Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition (GMAACC) in the past few years. In particular, they are working to make sure Chinese speaking residents in Malden have equal and easier access to the ballot. Collaborating with the mayor and other community organizations, the city has made drastic changes.
Alexander Milvae, a lawyer from the GBLS Asian Outreach Unit remarked that, “We’ve been pleased by the progress the city has made. They’ve hired trilingual elections department staff members, fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English to work in the city clerk’s office. They’ve increased the number of bilingual poll workers and have committed to have all candidates names transliterated for next year’s [mayoral] election.”
The November presidential election is a critical one, where there will be a lot at stake for many voters, said Lowe. She hopes that people of color will play an important role in determining its outcome, she added. According to Chen, this could be an important time for immigrant voters, many of whom may not have had the chance to vote in their home countries.
