Sunday, November 15, 2009

Poll Results Confirm Influence of Asian American Voters in the 2009 Virginia Gubernatorial Race


Fairfax County, Virginia—The League of New Voters (LNV), which was founded in the Spring of 2009 in response to the needs of new voters who are naturalized U.S. citizens, conducted a month long nonpartisan telephone survey (Oct 1, 2009 to Nov 3, 2009) to assess Asian voters’ outlook on the Virginia gubernatorial and House of Delegate elections.

A survey of 16,293 registered Asian American voters in twelve legislative districts in Northern Virginia, where the Asian population is as high as 21% (LD39) of general population, showed that an average of 58.5% voted for Bob McDonnell the governor-elect. Furthermore, Asian American voter turn out was highest among Chinese and Vietnamese Americans on Election Day 2009, but it may take months before the Board of Elections releases an exact figure. As a point of reference, in Election 2008, Asian Americans voter turnout in Virginia reached a historic high of 61% according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper (07/2009).

Virginia’s Asian American votes made a key difference in this contest and reversed the trend of Election 2008 where Asian Americans voted by a big margin for Obama - according to the Asian American Legal Defense Fund.

Voter education, strategic communications in native Asian languages and dedicated outreach efforts by candidate McDonnell were key factors for earning the Asian votes, and determining the outcome of this race. The League of New Voters applaud Asian voters of Virginia for actively participating in this historic election and we look forward to working with the McDonnell Administration to ensure that Asian Americans interests in Virginia are accurately represented.

We commend the candidates for their efforts. The League of New Voters will continue to be a resource to office seekers so that they can more fully engage the growing Asian American communities in the political process.

http://sites.google.com/site/leagueofnewvoters

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