Why Vote?
Why should Vietnamese Americans vote?
Why We Vote
Together, we vote because of these reasons:
We can participate in our government and help shape laws that govern us all. We express our interests, our choices, and our values in voting for those who represent us in our government.
Our vote affects not only electoral representation, but also local changes. Thus, low voter turnout means that important policies are determined by a small group of voters, making a few votes critically important. Policies directly impact our lives, so we vote to make sure that policies are not harming our families and communities.
Casting our ballots is becoming easier and more convenient with early voting, mail-in ballots, and drop boxes in addition to in-person voting. Most states have a setup for mail-in and early voting.
Voting & The Asian American Population
The history of American voting rights shows how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. Starting 1776, voting was intentionally restricted to the wealthy and property-owning white men. Until passages of the 14th and 15th Amendment in 1868 and 1870 respectively, virtually all men, including African American men, were allowed to vote. In 1920, voting rights were granted to women with the passage of the 20th Amendment. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed to ensure that all men and women have the right to vote; thus, now voting is a civil right, not a duty or privilege. The struggle for civil rights, especially voting, continues on.
Regarding Asian-Americans, their legal right to become citizens and vote as American citizens is relatively young, only 68 years old, thanks to the passage of the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952. Indeed, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (repealed in 1943) barred the Chinese from immigrating to the US and excluding them from naturalized citizenship. Furthermore, the National Origins Quote Act (Immigration Act) in 1924 barred other Asians from immigrating to the U.S. Congress later passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, removing barriers that kept many people of color from voting.
According to the Pew Research Center in May 2020, Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S. electorate.
In the last 20 years, Asian American voters grew by 129%, as opposed to the black and white electorate who increased just 5% and 7% respectively.
Today, roughly one in four Congressional Districts contains more than 5% Asian-American Pacific Islander residents.
While the population of Asian Americans is growing fast, just 49% of Asian Americans voters voted in 2016. (Vietnamese Americans are one of the six Asian origin groups that accounted for the majority of the U.S. Asian voters.)
Many reasons contributed to low voter turnout in Asian American communities like voter suppression tactics, language barriers, lack of quality engagement from political parties, and perhaps, outdated civic knowledge. These obstacles continue to discourage voter participation; therefore, we want to empower Vietnamese American voters and remind them why voting matters.