The thinking goes that Asian Americans don’t vote because of the community’s large immigrant population.
Others have said Asian Americans don’t vote because they’re too busy with their family and struggling with their finances.
But a study by Dr. Janelle Wong, a political scientist at the University of Maryland, dispels both of those ideas, according to Diverse Issues in Higher Education.
“There’s little empirical evidence for either theory,” said Wong. “Asian Americans vote at rates that are very similar to the general population, once they’re registered. Also, Asian Americans are not targeted and mobilized at the same level as other groups.”
Wong gave her findings at the AAPI Policy Research Summit which was organized by City University of New York’s Asian American/Asian Research Initiative, the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Institute for Asian American Studies, the University of California, Los Angeles’ Asian American Studies Center and the UC AAPI Policy Multicampus Research Program.
The question Wong asks is how do you mobilize Asian Americans. You can read her insights into, plus finding about where Asian Americans stand on various issues, in Diverse Issues in Higher Education.