A REPORT OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE
AND EDUCATION FUND
THE ASIAN AMERICAN VOTE
IN THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
By Harish Trivedi
Here is a brief summary of the survey of exit polls conducted by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) that was published last week
The states that were surveyed included NY, NJ, MA, PA, VA, MD, DC, MI, IL, LA, TX, NV
Ohio was not among the states that were survey.
On Election Day, November 4, 2008, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) dispatched 1,500 attorneys, law students and community volunteers to poll sites in 11 states and conducted a nonpartisan multilingual exit poll of 16,665 Asian American voters.
AALDEF’s exit poll was the nation’s largest survey of Asian American voters and covered 113 poll sites in 39 cities. The exit poll was conducted in English and twelve Asian languages. Asian American voters often are overlooked by the mainstream media and by candidates for political office. When the media neglect the Asian American vote, candidates often follow suit. When they do report on the Asian American vote, the data may be skewed because respondents were surveyed only in English.
Multilingual exit polls give a fuller and more accurate portrait of Asian American voters than polls conducted only in English. AALDEF’s exit poll reveals details about the Asian American community including voter preferences on candidates, political parties, language needs, and other issues of vital importance to our community.
Profile of Respondents
The six largest Asian ethnic groups polled in 2008 were Chinese (32%), South Asian (32%), Korean (14%), Southeast Asian (9%), and Filipino (5%). South Asian includes Asian Indians, Bangladeshis, Indo- Caribbeans, Pakistanis, and Sri Lankans. Southeast Asian includes Cambodians, Indonesians, Laotians, Thais, and Vietnamese. Democratic Majority
A clear majority (58%) of Asian Americans were registered Democrats, 26% were not enrolled in any political party, and 13% of Asian Americans were registered Republicans. Party crossover voting heavily favored Democrats. A larger proportion of Asian American Republicans crossed party lines to vote for Obama than did Asian American Democrats voting for McCain. Moreover, the vast majority of Asian Americans not enrolled in a party voted for Obama.
During the presidential election, Asian Americans voted as a bloc for the same candidates and identified common reasons for their votes. Economy/Jobs was the dominant issue influencing the Asian American vote for President (66%) followed by Health Care (40%), Foreign Policy/War in Iraq (31%), Education (27%), and Civil Rights/Immigration Rights (23%).
AALDEF’s exit poll revealed that many Asian Americans, especially those who were limited English proficient, were concerned with losing their homes because of foreclosure.
Language Access
One in five (20%) voters identified English as their native language. In the 2008 elections, 43% of respondents who were limited English proficient preferred to use some form of language assistance to vote.
Voting Barriers
AALDEF poll monitors received more than 800 complaints of voting problems. Asian American voters also faced long lines, a lack of Asian-language assistance, poll books with missing voter names, and machine breakdowns.
On November 4, 2008, AALDEF surveyed 16,665 Asian American voters at 113 poll sites in 39 cities across eleven states - New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana, Texas, and Nevada - and Washington, D.C.
Poll sites with large concentrations of Asian American voters were selected using voter registration files, census data, and interviews with local elections officials and community leaders. Poll sites with a history of voting problems were also selected. Volunteer exit pollsters were stationed at poll sites.
Survey questionnaires were written in twelve Asian languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese, in addition to English. One in four respondents (25%) completed Asian language questionnaires, while 75% completed the English version.
PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS
Ethnicity
Survey respondents were Chinese (32%), Asian Indian (15%), Korean (14%), Bangladeshi (8%); the remaining respondents were of other Asian ethnicities and were multiracial or multiethnic Asians.
Language
While 20% of respondents identified English as their native language, 27% identified one or more Chinese dialects as their native language (including Cantonese, Mandarin), 24% spoke one or more South Asian languages (including Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu), 12% spoke Korean, 8% spoke one or more Southeast Asian languages (including Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao), 4% spoke Tagalog, 3% spoke Arabic, and 2% identified another Asian language as their native language. Fifteen percent (15%) identified English as their native language. Among Korean voters, 81% selected Korean as their native language, while 18% identified English as their native language. Among South Asian voters, 27% selected Bengali as their native language, 11% selected Gujarati, 11% selected Urdu, 7% selected Hindi, and 5% selected Punjabi. Thirteen percent (13%) of South Asian voters spoke multiple South Asian languages or other South Asian languages, including Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, and Marathi. Twenty-four percent (24%) identified English as their native language.
Limited English Proficiency
Thirty-five percent (35%) of Asian voters surveyed said they read English less than “very well.” Of all language groups, native Korean-speaking voters exhibited the highest rate of limited English proficiency, with 66% indicating that they have at least some difficulty reading English. In Chicago, Illinois, 81% of native Korean-speaking respondents were limited English proficient. In Boston, Massachusetts, 70% of native Chinese speakers and 54% of native Vietnamese speakers were limited English proficient. In Queens, New York, 58% of native Chinese speakers and 75% of native Korean speakers were limited
English proficient.
Forty-three percent (43%) of all respondents who were limited English proficient reported that they preferred voting with the help of an interpreter or translated voting materials. Groups with significant rates of limited English proficiency also exhibited a high propensity towards the use of an interpreter or translated voting
Thirty-one percent (31%) of native Chinese speakers, 28% of native Khmer speakers, and 27% of native Vietnamese speakers preferred to use some form of language assistance while voting.
Foreign Born
The groups with the highest rates of foreign-born, naturalized citizens were South Asians (87%), Koreans (83%), and Southeast Asians (83%). respondents at 55%, 57%, and 54% respectively.
Korean respondents, had no formal education in the U.S., the highest rate among all Asian ethnic groups surveyed.
First-Time Voting
Thirty-one percent (31%) of all Asian American voters surveyed stated that they voted for the first time in the November 2008 Presidential Elections. Ethnicity %
Indo-Caribbean 90%
Pakistani 88%
Vietnamese 86%
Korean 83%
Asian Indian 82%
All Asian Americans 79%
Chinese 74%
Filipino 74%
Party Affiliation
The majority of Asian Americans surveyed (58%) were registered Democrats, 13% were registered Republicans, and 3% were enrolled in other parties. Twenty-six percent (26%) of all Asian American respondents were not enrolled in any political party. South Asian voters were enrolled in the Democratic Party at higher rates than all other Asian ethnic groups.
Vote for President
THE ASIAN AMERICAN VOTE
AALDEF’s multilingual exit poll revealed that Asian Americans favored Barack Obama over John McCain, 76% to 23%, in the historic election of the nation’s first African American President. First-time voters and South Asian Americans demonstrated even stronger support for Obama. Vote for President by Ethnicity
Generally, Asian Americans demonstrated political unity, even across ethnic lines. With only one exception - Vietnamese American voters - each Asian ethnic group voted as a bloc for Obama. Ninety-three percent (93%) of South Asian American voters supported Barack Obama. In contrast, Vietnamese American voters gave McCain the strongest support of all Asian ethnic groups at 67%. 18-29 years old voted for Obama. In previous presidential elections, South Asian voters have supported the Democratic presidential candidates most strongly of all Asian ethnic groups. In the 2000 presidential elections, 80% of South Asians voted for the Democratic candidate Al Gore.6 In 2004, 90% voted for Democratic candidate Senator John Kerry. With 73% of Chinese Americans and 64% of Korean Americans supporting Obama in 2008, 72% of Chinese voters and 66% of Korean voters supported Senator Kerry in the 2004 elections. In 2000, the majority of Chinese and Korean Americans voted for Al Gore at 79% and 80% respectively.
Vote for President by State
Asian Americans in Michigan, Massachusetts, and New York were among the strongest supporters for Obama, whereas Asian Americans in Louisiana and Texas strongly supported McCain, largely because of the high number of Vietnamese voters surveyed. In states where Asian American voters supported Obama over McCain, Obama led with double-digit margins.
In comparison to the 2004 presidential elections, Asian Americans voted for the Democratic presidential candidate over the Republican candidate at nearly identical rates. For example, in New York, 74% of Asian Americans voted for Senator Kerry and 23% voted for President Bush in the 2004 Elections. Four years earlier, 68% of Asian Americans voted for Kerry and 30% voted for Bush.
First-Time Voting
First-time voters favored Barack Obama by a significant margin. Eighty-one percent of first-time Asian American voters supported Obama and 18% voted for McCain. In contrast, 69% of first-time voters voted for Obama, and 30% voted for McCain in the overall electorate.8 Similarly, in the 2004 Presidential Elections, 78% of Asian Americans who were voting for the first time supported Senator Kerry compared to 53% of all first-time voters.
Asian American Vote for President
Seventeen percent (17%) of Asian Americans registered as Republicans voted for Barack Obama, whereas only 7% of Asian Americans registered as Democrats voted for John McCain.
Asian Americans crossed over and voted at similar rates in 2004. Seven percent (7%) of Asian Democrats voted for George Bush and 18% of Asian Republicans for John Kerry.
The Vote by Age
Younger Asian Americans voted for Barack Obama by much greater margins than older Asian Americans. Among 18-29 year olds, 88% voted for Obama and 11% for McCain. Obama’s support was greatest among native-born Asian American voters, with 87% voting for Obama. Native-born Asian Americans were only 21% of all respondents, while foreign-born Asian Americans were 79% of those polled. Seventy-three percent (73%) of foreign-born Asian Americans supported Obama. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Asian American respondents who voted for McCain were naturalized in the U.S. Over half (54%) of McCain’s supporters immigrated to the U.S. more than ten years ago.
As voters’ citizenship tenure lengthened, support for Obama decreased. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Asian American respondents who voted for McCain were
Asian American
Limited English Proficiency
Obama’s support was greatest among fully English proficient Asian American voters, with 82% of voters who read English “very well” voting for Obama and 17% for McCain. Among Asian Americans who voted for Obama, 72% read English very well, whereas just over a quarter
(28%) of his supporters were limited English proficient. In contrast, over half (51%) of Asian Americans who supported McCain were limited English proficient.
Vote for Congress
AALDEF’s exit poll was conducted in 45 congressional districts. Overall, Asian Americans overwhelmingly voted for Democratic congressional candidates over Republican candidates in the November 2008 General Elections. Thirty of the 45 congressional districts surveyed showed the majority of Asian Americans supporting Democratic congressional candidates. Of the congressional races covered, 21 candidates were elected with the majority support of Asian Americans. Summary of the Asian American Vote
AALDEF’s exit poll data shows that younger, U.S.-born, more recently naturalized, and English proficient Asian American citizens voted for Barack Obama for President by wide margins. The three most important issues influencing Asian Americans in their vote for President were Economy/Jobs (66%), Health Care (40%), and Foreign Policy/War in Iraq (31%). Economy/Jobs was the top choice for all Asian ethnic groups surveyed. Most Asian ethnic groups identified Health Care as the second most important factor influencing their vote for President.
Health Care
Overall, Asian American respondents who were limited English proficient were more worried about foreclosure than those who were not limited English proficient.
Language Assistance
Asian Americans identified English as their native language; 35% said that they were limited English proficient.
Over a quarter (26%) of Chinese and Southeast Asian respondents and 21% of Korean respondents prefer voting with an interpreter or translated materials. Certain jurisdictions in AALDEF’s exit poll are required by Section 203 to provide Asian language assistance - such as translated ballots, instructions, and other voting materials as well as interpreters - at poll sites. Other jurisdictions in Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania voluntarily provide language assistance, most often in the form of interpreters at selected poll sites for particular Asian language minority voters. Furthermore, 43% of native Chinese speakers in Brooklyn preferred to vote with language assistance. In Boston, Massachusetts, almost half (49%) of native Chinese speakers surveyed preferred voting with language assistance. In Philadelphia, almost two-thirds (63%) of native Chinese speakers are LEP with 41% preferring to vote with language assistance. In Annandale, Virginia, Korean Americans exhibited the highest level of LEP voters (78%) based on native language and surveyed locality. In Cook County Illinois, 43% of voters whose native language was Korean preferred voting with language assistance. The Asian American population has surged throughout the United States. Greater outreach is needed, especially to limited English proficient and older Asian American voters. Moreover, Asian Americans have encountered many voting barriers. AALDEF’s exit poll shows that Asian Americans strongly supported President Obama in the 2008 Elections. Moreover, Asian Americans expect the new administration to address issues regarding Economy/Jobs, Health Care, and Foreign Policy/War in Iraq, which Asian Americans overall agree are the most significant issues. It is also clear from AALDEF’s exit poll that many congressional representatives received strong support from their Asian American constituents.
(Source: Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Report of the exit poll survey)
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund99 Hudson Street • 12th floor • New York • New York 10013-2815
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