Press Release
AALDEF to Conduct Asian American Exit Poll and Monitor Poll Sites in NY, LA, MA, PA, TX, & VA
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), a New York-based national civil rights organization, will conduct a nonpartisan multilingual exit poll to get a snapshot of Asian American candidate preferences, party enrollment, and issues of significance to Asian American voters in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. This year, there will be a gubernatorial election in Louisiana, mayoral elections in Philadelphia and Houston, and state elections in Virginia.
AALDEF will also dispatch observers to document voter problems and the availability of language assistance at poll sites during the early voting period and for the upcoming election on November 5th in New York City, Malden, MA, and Boston, MA. This election marks the first time in state history that New Yorkers will have the option to vote early.
AALDEF’s poll monitoring efforts have taken on heightened significance in light of the Supreme Court decision in Shelby v. Holder, which weakened the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act. AALDEF successfully used the preclearance process in the past to secure bilingual ballots for Chinese American voters and challenge voting barriers faced by Asian New Yorkers.
In the 2018 midterm elections, AALDEF polled 8,058 Asian American voters in 14 states with large Asian American populations. Even higher Asian American voter turnout is expected in the 2020 presidential election. AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters and monitored polls in every major election since 1988.
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For more information, contact:
Jerry Vattamala
Democracy Program Director
jvattamala@aaldef.org
212.966.5932 x209
Margaret Fung
Executive Director
mfung@aaldef.org
212.966.5932 X201