AAPI voter turnout involves many unseen obstacles

By Mahlon Meyer
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

You are voting for the first time. Your ballot arrives. But you can’t read it. The text is too small. And when you come to the candidates’ names, they look something like this:

T *&%$@(“&^

T>>%@)%|\^^

Such was the experience—more or less—of many older residents of the Chinatown International-District (CID) before the Nov. 2023 elections, according to multiple organizations sponsoring a get-out-the vote event.

Although their ballots were translated into Chinese, the writing appeared tiny—and the candidates’ names were printed in English, a language they were blind in.

In the case of the Seattle City Council race, many knew the candidate Tanya Woo from her years of engagement.

So they simply checked the box for the first candidate whose name began with the letter “T”—which they could recognize.

(Chinese is read from top to bottom).

That was Tammy Morales, who squeaked by with 403 votes.

While observers could not say for certain that so many votes were mistakenly cast, there were residents of five housing complexes—large buildings—at the get-out-the-vote event where they filled out the ballots. And they were constantly talking among themselves.

“We saw this happening again and again,” said Connie So, president of the OCA Asian Pacific Advocates of Greater Seattle, one of the groups that supported the non-partisan event.

Getting out first-time voters

The event was entitled “CID Cares” and was sponsored by multiple community organizations with the voting administration in attendance. Its purpose, said So, was to teach mostly first-time voters how to vote—not to tell them whom to vote for.

Organizers “received substantial support from and around the community,” said Amy Chen Lozano, the event organizer, with Chinese Information and Service Center, International Community Health Services, Eastside Voters Alliance, Asian Counseling and Referral Service, Chong Wa, the Wing Luke Museum, and many more involved.

“Overall it was a success, but there were glitches,” said So, who is also a professor of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington.

Even the Chinese translation, it turned out, was hard for some to read.

“We didn’t realize it was necessary to blow up the writing on the ballots on a big screen. Even some who brought their glasses had a hard time reading it,” she said.

“Many of our elderly couldn’t even see the small print,” said Lozano.

There were also problems with translating the instructions. The Taishanese translator got shy and dropped out, according to So.

As a result, she and other organizers had to go table to table translating instructions to the attendees, who nevertheless continued to chatter among themselves.

“Naturally there were a lot of lessons learned,” said Lozano. “For example, translated ballots in language weren’t enough.”

It was only later that organizers realized that some voters had just seen the first “T” and put their mark next to it, mistaking candidates.

“We didn’t tell them whom to vote for, but we heard them talking afterwards and realized a number of them had not voted for the candidate they had been talking about,” said So.

Nor is it clear if a similar dynamic played out across the city with other translated ballots.

The dilemma seemed a window into some of the unforeseen challenges in voter turnout among the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations in Seattle—the largest minority at 18% and the fastest growing.

A mixed bag

Other issues are better known—generational attitudes toward voting, the spread of misinformation and disinformation in some cases targeting this community, and socioeconomic factors.

Across all ethnic groups, voters turn out less during an election year that is not hinged upon national candidates or issues, according to multiple analysts.

Among AAPIs, older voters tend to vote more than younger, said So.

But Asian Americans, especially immigrants, belong to the youngest demographic, she said.

Thus, both age and immigrant status (non-naturalized immigrants cannot vote) militate against voter turnout.

At the same time, people in their 30s, who are often supporters of far-left candidates, tend to turn out in droves, said So.

This latter trend appears to cut across ethnic identities.

Targeted misinformation

But in the case of the AAPI populations, misinformation and disinformation has been intentionally let loose in their communities, said Bob Sakinawa, director of policy and advocacy at APIAVote and a Seattle native.

Such messaging may discourage voting, on one hand. Or, it may inflame sentiments and influence selection of candidates.

In 2022, a think tank associated with Stephen Miller, an ally of former president Donald Trump, sent mailings to key battleground areas where AAPI communities held swing votes, according to the Intercept—a nonprofit news organization that publishes articles and podcasts.

There is some evidence such narratives advanced by the mailing, or similar ones, persist in Seattle’s CID.

Activists, for instance, say that there is some distrust of President Joe Biden’s border policies because they appear to be equivalent to Seattle’s progressive politics of apparently “favoring” those experiencing homelessness and substance abuse disorders over working-class or low-income people who live in the community.

“In both cases, they are taking care of outsiders rather than locals,” said one influential activist, who asked not to be named for fear of social or political consequences.

Cross-identity concerns

But, increasingly, issues that affect voter turnout among AAPIs cut across all identities, said Ador Pereda Yano, former president of the Filipino American Political Action Group of Washington.

Low-income and working-class neighborhoods, be they the CID or in South Seattle or elsewhere, have a different set of priorities—and it is these that will often determine voter turnout and party affiliation.

“There has been so much violence by the homeless against people here,” said Beth Ku, an informal community organizer in the CID. “I tell people to vote.”

Neighborhoods in South Seattle sometimes share the same sentiments.

At the same time, those with less formal education tend to vote less, said So. While those with more, vote more.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 recognizes such disparities across communities.

“Among other factors, the denial of the right to vote of such minority group citizens is ordinarily directly related to the unequal educational opportunities afforded them, resulting in high illiteracy and low voting participation,” states section 203.

According to Yano, such disparities have only been increasing over the past decades due to extreme income inequality.

Consistency as a rule

In the case of linguistic barriers, it was not immediately clear if other Chinese speakers or other AAPI communities across Seattle faced the same challenges—generating the same misprisions—as happened during the Seattle City Council race last November.

In any event, the burden for correcting any confusion appears to be on the candidates, rather than on the government.

King County Elections said there has never been a candidate who asked to use a non-English name on the ballot.

“It may be technically possible,” said Courtney Hudak, communications specialist for King County Elections, in an email.

But a candidate using a Chinese name, for instance, would then have to have that name appear in Chinese in every other language on every other ballot—no matter what language the ballot was translated into.

“Names must be consistent across ballots in all the languages we provide,” said Hudak. “We provide ballots and voting materials in English, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese, and whichever way a name is printed in one language, it must be the same in every other language.”

King County Elections said voters could distinguish between candidates by looking at their photographs on the voters’ pamphlet.

“There’s no better way to vote than to do so with your voters’ pamphlet in hand,” said Halei Watkins, communications manager for King County Elections, in an email.

OCA pushed for the translation of ballots into Chinese, said So.

“Whenever implementing a program, particularly one required in law as language access is for us at both the federal and local level, we do so in close consultation with our attorneys at the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to ensure that we are in compliance,” said Watkins. “[We] are confident we are in compliance with what is required under the law.”

Other assistance

And as for small text being unreadable, King County Elections has ways to assist.

Upon request, large print ballots in all languages are available. Assistive voting units include audio ballots, large print, and high contrast. These are available at Vote Centers and can be brought by request to community events.

Beyond that, there is an online ballot marking system.

Voters can listen as their ballot is read aloud to them. Then, after marking their selection, they can listen again to confirm their choices. They can then print off their ballot to turn it in.

“All you need is the internet and a printer,” said Hudak.

Still, not everyone in the CID has such easy access.

The median income of the neighborhood, according to the census bureau, is the lowest in the city, at $36,900.

Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.