According to a report from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian American voters could face discrimination at polling stations in this November's presidential election, if things go like they did in the 2006 elections: Asian Americans voters face discrimination: report.
AALDEF cited numerous examples of Asian Americans experiencing gross violations from poll workers when it came to providing language and other voter assistance required by law.
For example, numerous Asian voters were asked to provide more identification than other citizens. Those not on voter rolls but still eligible to vote were often not given provisional ballots to complete. That's illegal. Asian American voters were apparently greeted with intimidating remarks such as "How come you don't speak English?", "Why don't you go back to your home country?" and "You're turning this country into a dump." That's illegal too.
Under the Voting Rights Act, election officials in districts with more than 10,000 registered Asian Americans, or ones where their voting population exceeds 5 percent of a district's total, are mandated to provide certain help. In areas with low levels of literacy and people who speak an Asian language, help such as translators and translated ballots and registration forms are required.
Obviously, the concern is that these problems that were observed in 2006 will repeat themselves in the next election. Asian Americans have the right to vote and exercise their civic responsibility just as much as the next person, and yet we're still often perceived as foreigners. Why am I not suprised that this kind of discrimination would occur at polling stations? That's racist!
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