Discussion with Christine Chen (co-Founder of APIAVote) in September 2024.

Last month, Christine Chen, the co-founder and Executive Director of APIAVote, spoke to Chapman University students and faculty in a session hosted by Dr. Vivian Yan-Gonzalez, an assistant professor of Asian-American studies and historian of Asian-American politics. In the session, Chen highlighted her organization’s mission to reinforce “Asian-American Political Power.”

In recent election cycles, many battleground states, such as Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, have seen elections decided by a few thousand votes. The few thousand votes are, in part, due to the increasing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) electorate. The number of AAPI votes cast has increased by over 2 million votes between the 2016 and 2020 election cycles.

Historically, Asian-American voters have tended to vote for Democratic party candidates. However, a survey completed in 2024 by APIAVote, has found an increase in Asian-American Independent voters. Given the growing AAPI electorate in some local congressional races, like the CA-45 congressional district that encompasses Garden Grove and Westminster, the increase in Independent Asian American voters can make or break candidates. In the CA-45 2022 election, the district was won by a little over 9,000 votes by Michelle Steel, which is less than 5% (Cook Political Report). The growing independent voter base can flip the historically conservative district in November’s election.

Asian-American Chapman students in attendance connected the information they learned from the event to their own experiences. One Orange County-based Chapman student spoke about the growing independent leaning of their parents. The student stated that their parents usually align themselves with the GOP, but recent healthcare and immigration issues have pushed them to become Independent.

In the case of another Chapman student based in the Bay Area (Silicon Valley), they spoke about their grandparents. The Bay Area-based student stated that her grandparents had previously aligned with the Democratic party. However, they are now Independent due to concerns about the economy and immigration. Chapman students’ experiences are examples of the data found in APIAVote’s survey, with 86% of Asian-American registered voters stating that the economy was paramount, 85% saying that healthcare was important, and 71% stating that immigration was key; all of the concerns impacted who they chose to vote for.

Increasing the number of AAPI registered voters has been a longstanding goal of APIAVote. In addition, the organization has also been fighting misinformation.The organization plans to empower AAPI’s to vote by providing resources in 18 languages through social media and mailers, and by providing a hotline for voting questions.

Connecting to the Chapman community, Lauren Chen (Communication Studies ), the secretary of the Asian Pacific Student Organization, asked in the meeting what students can do to aid in increasing the number of Asian American voters. Volunteering through paid phone banking, especially if you speak another language other than English, was suggested as one way to help increase the number of AAPI registered voters. 

If you are interested in volunteering for APIAVote through paid phone banking or becoming a College Ambassador, email youngvoters@apiavote.org or engageyouth@apiavote.org.

(Pictured in header: Left to right: Dr. Vivian Yan-Gonzalez, (Assistant Professor of Asian-American studies) and Christine Chen (co-founder and Executive Director of APIAVote) at the “Discussion with Christine Chen” event in September 2024. By Ava Brandt)