PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                    
November 5, 2008

CONTACT:
Tuyet Le  
(773) 456-3589 (mobile)

Chicago Asian Americans Vote Overwhelmingly for President-Elect Barack Obama

Chicago, IL – On November 4, 2008, the Asian American Institute (AAI) partnered with the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC) and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to conduct exit polling at 7 voting sites in Chinatown and Bridgeport, as well as in 14 other neighborhoods in metropolitan Chicago. 

The initial exit poll results show that 81% of the surveyed Asian American voters voted for President-Elect Barack Obama, and 16% voted for Sen. John McCain.  Aligning with national trends, 45% of Asian Americans identified the economy and jobs as their top issue, followed by health care (12%), and education (8%). These voter-identified issues are among those that are highlighted in AAI's "What's at Stake? Asian American Issues Platform for Illinois", a policy report produced in collaboration with 8 other Asian American organizations outlining top issues and recommendations.

The "faster processing of family reunification applications was the most important immigration-related issue to Asian American voters (38%), while 25% said that a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants was most important. When asked how favorable each political party was to immigrants, 50% of Asian American voters responded that Democrats were "very favorable".  In contrast, 46% responded that Republicans were "not favorable" to immigrants.  "The results of the election and our exit poll offer an insight into how Asian Americans are responding to a more positive message about immigrants from Democrats," said Tuyet Le, executive director, Asian American Institute. 

Over 100 volunteers gathered at the Chinese American Service League yesterday to mobilize 3,000 voters, including 1,600 new voters registered by CBCAC members over the summer.  The all-day targeted get-out-the-vote efforts in this area resulted in an increase in Asian American turnout at the polls.  As one of the fastest growing populations, Asian Americans number over 617,000 in Illinois, according to 2007 census bureau estimates. 

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Click to Download Powerpoint Presentation of Results

The Asian American Institute (www.aaichicago.org) is the region's pan-Asian nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the Asian American and Pacific Islander community through advocacy, by utilizing coalition-building, education, and research.