National Council of Asian Pacific Americans Supports Efforts to Restore Voting Rights and #RestoreTheVOTE initiative

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) strongly supports the #RestoreTheVOTE effort, launched today to protect voting rights through passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015, which has bipartisan support in the U.S. Senate. #RestoreTheVOTE is aimed at protecting the Voices Of The Excluded (VOTE), who have been denied the right to vote, and this initiative led by the Congressional Asian Pacific American, Black, and Hispanic Caucuses is a national effort to galvanize support for this legislation.

“Today is Election Day and an important opportunity to highlight the many challenges that Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities face at the polls, including discrimination and language barriers,” said National Director Christopher Kang. “We join the Congressional Asian Pacific American, Black, and Hispanic Caucuses in standing up for the right to vote and commend them for launching the #RestoreTheVOTE initiative to ensure that next Election Day, every voice is heard and every vote is counted.”

The 2016 election could be the first presidential election without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act since it was enacted 50 years ago. NCAPA member Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC has issued a seminal report on the importance of the Voting Rights Act in protecting and promoting the AANHPI vote, as approximately 60 percent of our communities are foreign-born and one-third are limited English proficient. AANHPI voters face racial discrimination on Election Day, from poll workers mistreating AANHPI voters to a lack of Asian-language assistance. Furthermore, many states that have seen significant growth rates in their AANHPI population have passed restrictive voting laws, such as requiring photo identification or proof of citizenship to register to vote.

NCAPA urges Congress to protect our democracy by restoring voting rights for all Americans and passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015.

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Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 35 national Asian Pacific American organizations that serves to represent the interests of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities and to provide a national voice for our communities’ concerns. Our communities are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, currently making up approximately six percent of the population.