On April 9 in Ann Arbor and April 10 in Detroit, Michigan, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) released detailed findings from its multilingual exit poll of Asian American and Arab American voters in Michigan during the November 2006 midterm elections. AALDEF, a 33-year-old civil rights organization, polled more than 4,700 Asian and Arab American voters in 23 cities and in nine states on Election Day nationwide, the largest nonpartisan survey of its kind.

AALDEF Staff Attorney Glenn Magpantay presented detailed findings from the 2006 Michigan exit poll with comparative information in the following areas:

• Voter priorities for the 2008 Elections
• Party enrollment and voting history
• Opinions about immigration reform
• Ethnicity and national origin
• Vote on the Proposal 2 ballot initiative
• Citizenship tenure (duration)
• English proficiency levels
• Improper ID demands and voting barriers

TIFF Images of the following exit poll slides are available for download online:

• “Vote on Proposal 2 by Ethnicity” – Click here to download.
• “Limited English Proficiency” – Click here to download.
• “Attitudes on Immigration Reform” – Click here to download.

AALDEF’s multilingual exit polls reveal vital information about Asian American voting patterns that is often overlooked in mainstream voter surveys. AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters in every major election since 1988. Nearly 11,000 Asian American voters in eight states and 3,000 in four states were surveyed in the 2004 and 2002 exit polls, respectively. More than 30 community groups and organizations joined AALDEF to mobilize more than 600 attorneys, law students, and volunteers to conduct the exit poll and to safeguard the voting rights of Asian Americans.

Co-sponsors of the April 9 and 10 presentations include the ACA/Organization of Chinese Americans Detroit Chapter, ACCESS Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, Asian American Center for Justice/American Citizens for Justice, Asian Pacific American Law Student Association at the University of Michigan, APIA Vote Michigan, Center for Civic Participation, Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Michigan Election Law Project, and the Michigan Journal of Race and Law.



The Asian American and Arab American Vote in Michigan

On Election Day, November 7, 2006, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), with the help of several co-sponsoring organizations and more than 600 attorneys, law students, and volunteers, conducted a nonpartisan, multilingual exit poll of over 4,700 Asian American voters. The questionnaire was available in English and nine Asian languages. Voters were surveyed in 23 cities across nine states—New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Washington—as well as Washington, D.C.

AALDEF surveyed a total of 368 Michigan Asian American and Arab American voters. Respondents were surveyed in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Hamtramck. Highlights of the findings include:

• Profile of respondents.
The four largest ethnic groups surveyed in Michigan were Arab (24%), South Asian (24%), Chinese (14%), and Korean (5%). Fifty-five percent (55%) were foreign born citizens. Fourteen percent (14%) had either no formal U.S. education or less than a high school education. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of respondents listed Arabic as their native language. Approximately one quarter (24%) of respondents were first-time voters.

• Respondents across all ethnic groups voted against Prop 2—the ban on state affirmative action programs.
Despite the myth that affirmative action policies put Asian Americans at a disadvantage relative to other racial minority groups, Asian American and Arab American voters voted to continue those policies. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Asian Americans opposed Proposal 2 by voting “No,” while only 23% voted “Yes.” Eighty-five percent (85%) of Chinese voters and 84% of South Asian voters voted No on Prop 2. Three in four (75%) Arab American voters also voted against the ban. A 2006 report by AALDEF on Proposal 2 and Asian Americans is available online at http://www.aaldef.org/article.php?article_id=194.

• “Economy/Jobs” was the most important issue Asian and Arab Americans identified for 2008 Presidential candidates to address.
The three most important issues for 2008 presidential candidates to address were: Economy/Jobs (33%), Education (19%), and the War in Iraq (17%).

• Most Asian and Arab Americans are enrolled in the Democratic Party.
Two-thirds (66%) of Michigan Asian Americans and Arab Americans were registered Democrats, 25% were not enrolled in any political party, and 8% were registered Republicans. Nearly three out of four Arab American respondents (74%) were enrolled in the Democratic Party, 10% were registered Republicans, and 16% were not enrolled in any party.

• Asian and Arab Americans supported legalization of undocumented immigrants and reducing immigration backlogs, while they opposed making being undocumented a crime.
Of those who gave an opinion, 79% of respondents said they favored creating a way for undocumented immigrants to legalize their status. Over two-thirds (68%) of respondents also said they opposed making being undocumented a crime. Additionally, almost nine out of ten (89%) of respondents said they favored reducing the amount of time the government takes to process paperwork for immigrants waiting to enter the country.

• The majority of Asian and Arab Americans have been affected by anti-immigrant sentiment.
About half (51%) of respondents said they had been affected by anti-immigrant sentiment in at least one of the following locations: at work, at school, or in a public location. Of those, close to half (45%) said they had been affected by anti-immigrant sentiment in public locations.

• Language assistance and translated ballots are needed to preserve access to the vote.
Approximately one in five (23%) Asian and Arab American voters expressed that they were limited English proficient. The majority of Bangladeshi American voters (52%) and over a third of Arab American voters (34%) were limited English proficient. One quarter (24%) of respondents identified English as their native language. Nearly half (45%) of respondents used interpreters to vote, and 35% used translated written materials.

• More than half of Asian American and Arab American voters encountered unlawful ID requirements.
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires that only certain first-time voters provide identification to vote. Yet 57% of those asked to show identification in order to vote were not required to do so under this federal law. At the Salinas Elementary School poll site in Dearborn, a “No Admittance Without ID” sign was posted outside the poll site. This contradicted the posted Michigan Voters’ Bill of Rights sign, which stated that voters have the right to vote in most instances without presenting any form of photo identification.


AALDEF Exit Polls
AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters in every major election since 1988. Nearly 11,000 Asian American voters in eight states (NY, NJ, MA, MI, IL, PA, RI, VA) were surveyed in AALDEF’s 2004 exit poll. Over 3,000 Asian American voters in four states (NY, NJ, MA, MI) were surveyed in 2002, and over 5,000 Asian New Yorkers were surveyed in 2000.

Co-Sponsors of the Asian American Exit Poll 2006:

Asian Pacific Islander American Vote
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
Organization of Chinese Americans
People For the American Way Foundation
South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Asian American Bar Association of New York
Asian American Bar Association of the Delaware Valley
Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts
Asian Bar Association of Washington
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, DC Area
Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center – DC
Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia
Chinatown Voter Education Alliance – NY
Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia
Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership – DC
Filipino American Human Services, Inc. – NY
Greater Boston Legal Services, Asian Outreach Unit
Korean American League for Civic Action – NY
Korean American Resource & Cultural Center – IL
Korean American Voters' Council of NY & NJ
ONE Lowell – MA
Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation
YKASEC–Empowering the Korean American Community – NY
The Sikh Coalition – NY
South Asian Youth Action! – NY
Vietnamese American Initiative for Development – MA
and Asian Pacific American Law Students Association chapters across the country.


For More Information, contact:
Glenn D. Magpantay, Staff Attorney, gmagpantay@aaldef.org
Brian Redondo, Voting Rights Public Education Coordinator, bredondo@aaldef.org
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
99 Hudson Street, 12th floor
New York, NY 10013
info@aaldef.org
www.aaldef.org
212-966-5932

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The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. By combining litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing, AALDEF works with Asian American communities across the country to secure human rights for all.