Phone banking campaign kicks off for Virginia candidates

By Jem Palo

On September 7, the Democratic Party of Virginia aimed to turn out more Asian voters for this November’s local elections, volunteers launched a full-scale campaign for three Asian candidates in the party.

Through the use of ‘phone banks’ volunteers intend to turn out more votes by assisting Asian voters who speak more of their native language (more commonly Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese).

“The Asian American community in Virginia is growing rapidly, so we need more voters to make sure we are represented,” said Jennifer Oh, from the Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia (DAAV).

Gautam Dutta of the Asian American Action Fund also noted how, because of AAPI’s participation in 2009 elections, Delegate Mark Keam—whose campaign office in Tyson’s corner will be used for the campaign activities—is now in the legislature.

This year’s candidates are Mark Keam (Korean) 3rd time State House of Representatives challenger for District 35, Hung Nguyen (Vietnamese) first time challenger for District 67, and Atif Qarni (Pakistani) for District 13.

Volunteers mainly come from the Democratic Asian Americans of Virginia (DAAV), an organization dedicated to ‘increasing APA community engagement and awareness in the political process, and the Asian American Action Foundation Fund (AAA-Fund), a political organization that aims to empower AAPI’s across the U.S. Many volunteers also include youth and community volunteers in Virginia.

From the kick-off last September 7, the campaign will continue every weekend until the November 5 elections.