It's no secret that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are terribly underrepresented at the polls. Why don't we vote? Well, one of the major obstacles to voting in our community is language. AAPIs are three times more likely to cite language barrier as a reason for not voting than Latinos.
That's why our friends at 18 Million Rising have been hard at work on an awesome, ambitious project called VoterVOX, a new solution to address the problem of language access at the polls for AAPI voters.
VoterVOX is a translation mapping app that connects multilingual AAPI volunteers with limited English speakers so that every eligible voter gets access to a ballot and voting information in their language. It's described as "1 part civic tech, 1 part grassroots organizing, and 3 parts cultural connection."
They're currently crowdfunding the project, and with the community's help -- that means you and me! -- they launch VoterVOX in time for the 2016 Presidential election.
Here's a video with some more information:
