Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Michelle Phipps-Evans
This year’s general election on Nov. 6 will likely be remembered for its long lines. It may also be remembered as the first presidential election where national political journalists began focusing on the role Asian Americans played, and are expected to play in the future.
It’s all in the numbers, with 17 million Asian Americans in the U.S. According to the National Journal, an overwhelming 72 percent of Asian Americans voted to re-elect the president. The New York Times posts the number at 73 percent. Only African Americans turned out a higher percentage of their vote for President Obama, and the votes the Asian community gave to the president may have made a difference key battleground states like Virginia. The Asian American vote this year for Barack Obama was up 11 points from 2008.
A lot of attention was focused on swing state Virginia, but there are 21,000 Asian American and Pacific Islanders (3.6 percent of the population) in the District of Columbia, according to the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.
Among these was first time voter, Katherine Qu, a 25-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen originally from China.
“I just became a citizen two months ago,” said Qu, who proudly placed the “I Voted” sticker on her jacket, as she walked out her voting precinct at the Chinese Community Church in Chinatown in Northwest. “Even though it’s D.C., and my vote won’t matter, I’m still excited to be able to cast my vote.” The District, which overwhelmingly votes for Democratic candidates at a rate of 9 to 1, accounts for three electoral votes in the general election.
Qu, who has lived in the United States since she was six, went into the polling booth in Ward 2 around noon when there were no lines. Precinct poll worker George Knuckles said that from the time the precinct opened at 7 a.m., lines were long and wrapped around the corner.
“Even before we opened, people were waiting,” said Knuckles about the precinct, which he said saw large numbers of Asians coming in to vote, in addition to other groups.
Later in the afternoon, Mary Ann David was leaving the same precinct in Chinatown. An immigrant from the Philippines, David has been a U.S. citizen for 25 years.
“I’m just doing what I think is right for the country,” said David, 38, who voted in several elections before. “I really wanted to vote mainly for the president.”
Jay Yee sat at a table while waiting for lunch at the China Fresh Rice restaurant on 6th Street in Northwest. He hadn’t voted yet but insisted he would, after work.
“I think it’s time for another change,” said Yee, 40, who lives in Fairfax, Va. Yee, who has been in the United States since he was 10, has voted in every election since he became a citizen 25 years ago.
Meanwhile, in Ward 8, a contingent of Asian Americans was at the Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast in a predominantly African-American neighborhood to observe the U.S’s electoral process.
“We’re trying to see how they keep it fair and make a comparison to our country,” said Commissioner Armando C. Velasco from the Philippine Commission on Election, which is similar to the District’s Board of Election that administers the entire election process. Velasco was one of 450 foreign nationals from 50 countries participating in the U.S. Election Program, hosted by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. This foundation is an independent nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that works on promoting democracy and fair elections for people around the world. The program brings together election officials, parliamentarians and diplomats to observe and learn from the U.S. electoral system as well as discuss elections and voting from comparative international perspectives.
The precinct in Ward 8 was one of the stops for this group, made up mainly of nationals from the Philippines and Indonesia. There were 60 buses visiting various polling sites in the city with visitors from Europe and Asia, according to Lauren Sauer, a program manager.
“What I learned is that it takes lots of discipline by the voters who have to stand in long lines to wait their turn,” said Velasco who added that he is observing the U.S. for the Philippine’s elections in May 2013. “The polling is organized and the election is very orderly.”
