This past Friday, local Asian American non-profit organizations gathered at the Clarkston Community Center for the annual Festival of the Arts, hosted by East x Southeast, to celebrate Asian representation in comedy and highlight the growing power of the Asian American vote.
Despite making up seven percent of the population in the United States and 4.59 percent of the electorate in Georgia, Asian American voters are increasingly seen as deciding factors in local elections, according to Shani Chea, Program Director at the Asian American Advocacy Fund.
“We are just about 5 percent of the electorate, but when you look at the numbers, that’s 261,000 registered voters. A lot of elections are decided by 50,000 votes or less,” said Chea.
Local elections are a particular focus for Asian American advocacy groups because of their direct impact on community services and policies. “What’s happening on the federal level affects us indirectly, but the local level affects us directly,” explained Anthony Pacheco, Community Organizing Manager at Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
A key result of this local focus is the “Safe Space to Learn” coalition, formed in September by AAAF in collaboration with the Association of Raza Educators, We Are CASA, and Demo Lab South. The coalition advocated for a policy restricting when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agents can access students or enter school facilities.
Under the regulation, “federal immigration officials or local law enforcement agencies engaged in immigration enforcement operations will not be allowed access to students or entry into the non-public areas of District facilities without a valid judicial warrant.” It has successfully been adopted by four Georgia school districts: Gwinnett, DeKalb, Decatur, and Atlanta Public Schools.
Chea attributed the policy’s passage to sustained grassroots efforts, noting the consistency of community members as they called school board representatives and attended district meetings.
“Local level advocacy can do so much for our communities, can do so much for these students and families that are afraid to drop their students off at school,” emphasized Chea.
However, organizers point out the institutional challenges they face at the national level. A federal proposal introduced in September seeks to exclude non-citizens from the U.S. Census. Chea warned that such a move “will impact how our community’s resources will be allocated.”
Furthermore, Pacheco explained that the proposal could also hinder broader efforts to expand ballot access and language assistance: “One of the things we want to do as an organization in the long term is to use that census data so that people can have more language access as a whole.”
To counter election anxiety and campaign burnout, both organizers stressed the importance of fostering enthusiasm and joy around civic participation. Chea recalled a conversation from earlier in the day: “I was talking to somebody today that said it was their son’s first time voting, so they’re going as a family. Make it a big event. Make it joyful. Bring your friends and have a good time.”
Georgia voters can verify their registration status and locate polling places on the Georgia Secretary of State Advanced Voting Location page. Early voting runs through Oct. 30, with Election Day on Nov. 3. Happy voting!
