01.24.08

APA voters faced discrimination at the polls in ‘06: AALDEF report

Posted in Politics at 10:40 pm by albert_lim

aaldef

Many Asian American voters faced discrimination from poll workers during the 2006 midterm elections, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) alleges in a report.

The report, based on a multilingual exit poll of 4,700 voters in 25 cities, found violations of the Voting Rights Act and Help America Vote Act, as well as cases of “anti-Asian attitude.” As examples of the latter, AALDEF cites:

  • In New York, 83% of voters who were asked to show ID weren’t legally obligated to do so. No English-speaking voters were asked for ID.
  • One New York voting official said it was “a waste of the taxpayers’ money to pay for so many interpreters.”
  • Chinese American voters in New York were given Spanish-language ballots.
  • Many APA voters’ names were missing or misspelled on voter lists.

    • In all, 59 APA voters complained. AALDEF lawyer Glenn D. Magpantay told the BBC that the discrimination was “racially motivated and at the same time also demonstrated a bureaucratic approach.”

    AALDEF has sent copies of the report and letters of complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice for investigation.

    To read the report, visit AALDEF’s official Web site.

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