Advocates Will Defend an Accurate and Fair Count

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2020

CONTACT INFORMATION
James C. Woo
404.585.8446 x 104
jwoo@advancingjustice-atlanta.org

Atlanta, GA — Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters in Georgia turned out in historic numbers. Despite facing a global Covid-19 pandemic, hours-long lines, language barriers, and heightened fear and intimidation about voting, our communities overcame unacceptable barriers to exercise their right to vote. Over the past 3 months Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (Advancing Justice-Atlanta) dialed 92% of the estimated 238,000 eligible AAPI voters across the state. AAPI communities across Georgia showed up to vote early and began Election Day having already flexed our power - 50% of registered Asian American voters had already cast their ballots, increasing turnout by 141% since 2016. In Gwinnett County alone, there were three times more AAPI early voters than in 2016, over 30,000 compared to 9,500. Of those, 43% did not vote in 2012, 2016 or 2018. 

Stephanie Cho, Executive Director of Advancing Justice-Atlanta shared that “AAPI communities are showing up at the polls and redefining what Georgia’s electorate looks like. As the nation’s fastest growing population of immigrants eligible to vote, AAPI communities in Georgia will continue to grow in influence. We are only just beginning to come into our power. We will continue to show up and vote up and down the ballot for our issues, our rights, and our communities.” 

The historic surge in votes means the official count will take longer to tabulate. Now Georgia’s election officials must take the prescribed and deliberate steps to deliver an accurate and fair count. Advancing Justice-Atlanta will defend the democratic process to ensure every vote is counted. We are actively working to ensure all absentee ballots and provisional ballots are properly counted. We honor voters like 76-year-old Ok Hui Kim, who chose to vote absentee to decrease Covid-19 risk, and shared her reasoning: "Being able to cast my vote with an absentee ballot means my voice still counts.”

Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is the first nonprofit legal advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) and Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities in Georgia and the Southeast. For more information about Advancing Justice-Atlanta, visit https://advancingjustice-atlanta.org.