Asian Americans witnessed a record voter turnout in their community in the 2012 election. Now the Korean Resource Center and other Los Angeles area Asian American groups have joined together to keep the momentum going.
KPCC reports that Korean Americans teens are being recruited to get their parents and elders out to the polls in the next Municipal election in May. The goal is to get an additional 1,500 people registered to vote.
This is a great idea. Asian Americans can have a greater impact on local elections than national. So it only makes sense to push for continued participation in the “off elections” when fewer people in general go out and vote.
“We are emphasizing the increased voter turnout of adults, parent age, ages 30 to 55, because in general they are very interested in the issues…education, jobs, the economy,” said Yongho Kim of the Korean Resource Center, one group organizing the voter drive. “But because they work long hours and they are sometimes afraid of English, they have a lower turnout than Korean American seniors.”
I’d love to hear about similar efforts in other parts of the country. Let AsAmNews know about it at [email protected]