The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is seeking volunteers to defend Asian American voting rights by monitoring the elections and surveying voters on Election Day, November 8, 2016.

In past elections, Asian Americans have faced a series of barriers in exercising their right to vote, including segregated "Asian" voting lines. When the news media reported on election results, Asian Americans were often overlooked.

In response, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) has conducted a non-partisan exit poll of Asian American voters to document Asian American voting patterns and document instances of anti-Asian voter disenfranchisement.

AALDEF has monitored the elections for compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act, which mandates bilingual ballots and forbids anti-Asian voter discrimination. In the 2012 elections, 850 volunteers polled 9,096 Asian American voters in 14 states and Washington, DC.

Volunteers are being recruited in the following states to work in 3-hour shifts on Election Day:
California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

Volunteers need to attend a mandatory one-hour training session for all volunteers - 90 minutes for CLE credits. Attorneys can receive 1.5 CLE credits including 0.5 ethics credit.

Training will be held in Philadelphia on Tuesday October 25, 2016 at the following locations:

• Ballard Spahr LLP (CLE Training)
  1735 Market St, 51st Fl, Lunch, 12:00 PM
   
• Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition
  1711 S. Broad St, Dinner, 6:00 PM

All AALDEF volunteers must be non-partisan during the time they are at polling places on Election Day. Volunteers will work a three-hour shift at designated polling places on Election Day.

Click here to register online.

For more information, contact:

Jerry Vattamala, Democracy Program Director
Iris Zalun, Voting Rights Organizer
800-966-5946
votingrights@aaldef.org