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The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) released results for their nonpartisan and multilingual Asian American Exit Poll, revealing language access was the most prominent issue for Asian American voters this election year.
AALDEF stationed more than 600 volunteers in 12 states throughout the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and the West. Volunteers spoke with over 5,500 voters. The poll was conducted in English and in 10 Asian languages.
A third of all election day incidents reported to AALDEF consisted of language access. The Asian American civil rights organization is still receiving and responding to reports from volunteers across several states.
“Despite important protections for minority language speakers in the Voting Rights Act, we were troubled to hear from some voters that language assistance, even in places where they are mandated to provide interpreters, was unreliable, insufficient, or nonexistent,” said Bethany Li, executive director of AALDEF, in a statement. “When language access is denied, it’s disempowering. Our exit poll helped us respond quickly to fix or at least address the problems voters were facing at the polls.”
At least one frustrated Asian American left out without voting, according to AALDEF.
Documented NY spoke with on-site translators and voters at a poll in Flushing, New York City, where large groups of Asian immigrants reside. Translator Hui Phing Tan saw only three other Chinese interpreters, despite over 120 requests from Chinese-speaking voters in the first six hours after the polls opened.
“There aren’t enough interpreters — our schedules are tight, and our shifts are disrupted,” Tan told Documented. She also said that most Chinese voters she met were unaware of voter registration.
New York isn’t the only city that struggled with language assistance. The exit poll showed Philadelphia as the other city with the most concerning incidents.
About 12% of voters expressed needing language assistance, but 15% said they had no interpreter. When asked about the ballot, 44.3% of those who needed an interpreter said they did not have a translated one. This is higher than in New York, where 39% reported not having a translated ballot.
However, a higher 27% of voters in New York expressed needing language assistance with 23% saying they had no interpreter.
An overall 15% of exit poll participants identified as not speaking English well or at all. About 74% said they needed an interpreter, and 82% said they needed a translated ballot.
The poll also asked voters in five locales about their support for candidates and concerns that influenced their votes.
In Philadelphia, a large 73% of Asian American voters of different ethnicities opposed the construction for the 76ers arena in the city’s Chinatown.
In Michigan, most Asian American voters said the war in Gaza was a top three issue informing their votes. Of these voters, 78% were South Asian.
In New York, abortion access was a top issue for Asian American voters, 63% of which said it should be available in all or most cases.
Most voters across the locales preferred Kamala Harris over Donald Trump as president. But support for either candidates was low in Michigan, with 43% preferring Harris and 26% preferring Trump.
The poll also showed 44% of Asian American voters reported experiencing harassment or violence in the last two years due to their race, ethnicity or religion. Of these voters, 38% identified as Middle Eastern.
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