Voting Rights
Election 2024
Are You Ready to Vote?
Making sure you're fully ready to vote before you request an absentee ballot or head to the polls in-person can be overwhelming. Here are a couple fact sheets with resources to help! (Translations for both available in Arabic, Bengali, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Khmer, Punjabi, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese)
KEY DATES IN THE FIGHT FOR A COMPLETE CENSUS COUNT
March 26, 2018: Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announces the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, the first inclusion of such a question since 1950.
Joint Report Provides Roadmap for Addressing Serious Voting Rights Issues Nationwide
- Contact
Washington, D.C.
Advancing Justice | AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC), MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), and the (NALEO) National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund have issued a report that explains the need for restoring and strengthening the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) by addressing issues created by a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that undercut a key provision of the act.
House Testimony for Hearing on "Legislative Proposals to Strengthen the Voting Rights Act"
President and Executive Director John C. Yang submits this testimony to the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been vital to the prevention of actual and threatened discrimination aimed at Asian Americans in national and local elections, and for increasing the community's access to the ballot.
Download the testimony to read more.
House Testimony for hearing on "Voting Rights and Election Administration in America"
The language barrier is one of the biggest impediments to the Asian American vote. Lagging behind non-Hispanic whites in voter participation, ensuring effective language assistance is paramount to closing that consistent gap. While the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) has been vital to ensuring language access and assistance to Asian Americans in national and local elections, and for increasing the community’s access to the ballot, more can be done to improve access to the ballot for limited English proficient Asian American voters.
Jurisdictions and Languages that Just Missed Coverage in 2016 Section 203 Determinations
Download the file to see which jurisdictions just missed coverage in 2016 Section 203 determinations.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC Sues Trump Administration over Citizenship Data Collection
- Contact
GREENBELT, MD – The Trump administration’s plan to collect and provide incomplete citizenship data to the states for purposes of redistricting is an unconstitutional and racially discriminatory scheme intended to deprive Latinos and non-citizens of equal representation, according to a lawsuit filed Friday by civil rights organizations.
MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and Advancing Justice | AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC) filed suit on behalf of two non-profit groups and two Latino voters in Arizona and Texas who say they would be harmed by the plan because it seeks to dilute minority voting strength while increasing white representation.
...“This is absolutely a moment of importance,” John C. Yang, the president of the national arm of the nonprofit advocacy organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said of the three presidential candidates. “It says something about how far we have come.”
...The way Mr. Yang has chosen to lean into stereotypes about Asian-Americans, though, has led to tension among members of the community.
John C. Yang treaded carefully when asked about the candidate’s embrace of those tropes, calling it “a very complex, difficult area.”