APIA Vote 2004 National Youth Outreach

APIA Vote Debrief

Presented by: Go Kasai

& Jeanette Moy

December 11, 2004

Youth Outreach Campaign

APIA Youth Assessment Campaign Goals Participating Organizations National Structure Field Plan Campaign Results Future Planning

APIA Youth Assessment

APIA Targeting Analysis APIA Youth Voter Trends Target States High APIA Density Universities

Existing Organizations Traditional APIA Student Groups Greek-lettered Societies National Mainstream Student Coalitions

APIA Youth Assessment APIA Targeting Analysis: APIA Youth

Voter Trends There are 1.2 million APIA youth in the United States Recent studies show that APIA youth have the lowest

voter participation rate of other ethnicities Only 1/3 of APIA Youth registered to vote 2/3 of registered APIA youth exercised that right to vote Once APIAs register to vote, they are the most likely group

to go out to the polls and vote

APIA Youth Assessment APIA Targeting Analysis: Target States

APIA Youth Assessment APIA Targeting Analysis: High APIA

Density Universities Universities with:

High APIA Populations Located in critical swing states

Examples: University of Pennsylvania University of Washington University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Stanford University

APIA Youth Assessment Existing Organizations: Traditional APIA

Student Groups National and Regional Student Conferences

Regional: BASIC, CAIC, ECAASU, FIND, VASCon, SERCAAL, WAPISAN, East of California Conference, NFAYA

National: ITASA, KASCon, NAASCon Campus Student Coalitions and Organizations University APIA Outreach Centers & Programs

APIA Youth Assessment Existing Organizations: Greek-lettered

Societies 10 Nationwide Societies

Alpha Phi Gamma, alpha Kappa Delta Phi, Iota Nu Delta, Kappa Phi Lambda, Lambda Phi Epsilon, Pi Alpha Phi, Pi Delta Psi, Sigma Beta Rho, Sigma Omicron Pi, Sigma Psi Zeta

8 Regional Societies Alpha Iota Omicron, Chi Alpha Delta, Delta Phi

Lambda, Delta Kappa Delta, Delta Epsilon Psi, Delta Phi Omega, Nu Alpha Phi, Sigma Sigma Rho

Targeted membership: 3,200 undergraduates

APIA Youth Assessment Existing Organizations: Mainstream

Organizations and Student Coalitions SAAVY United States Student Association Rock the Vote Youth Vote Coalition College Republicans College Democrats

Campaign Goals To increase voter turn out among APIA

youth, ages 18-24 To effectively engage the APIA youth by

developing a coordinated campaign for national mobilization

To network APIA youth leaders at the local, regional and national levels

To provide logistical support and resources for a targeted education and outreach campaign

Participating Organizations

APIA Greek Alliance (AGA) National Asian American Student Conference

(NAASCon) South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY)

Participating Organizations APIA Greek Alliance (AGA)

AGA is coalition of national and regional Greek-lettered societies. The AGA was formed to effectively organize the APIA Greek community, in partnership with APIA Vote 2004

Goals 100% of all eligible members registered to vote 20,004 new registered voters Nationwide participation in our designated “Get-Out-The-Vote”

weeks This was the first ever coalition, and first concerted project, by the

APIA Greek-lettered organizations 180 Chapters 77 Universities 22 States

Participating Organizations AGA member organizations:

Fraternities Alpha Iota Omicron Delta Epsilon Psi Iota Nu Delta Lambda Phi Epsilon Nu Alpha Phi Pi Delta Psi Pi Alpha Phi Sigma Beta Rho

Sororities alpha Kappa Delta Phi Delta Kappa Delta Delta Phi Lambda Kappa Phi Lambda Sigma Psi Zeta

Participating Organizations National Asian American Student Conference

(NAASCon) National APA student political organization with the

mission to increase political and civic engagement Goals

To provide resources & tips to campus organizers working on voter outreach campaigns

To build a clearinghouse database of what students are doing on campuses around the country, to mobilize the APIA youth vote

Organize a national student telephone call conference Coordinate an online GOTV campaign

Participating Organizations South Asian American Voting Youth

(SAAVY) SAAVY’s mission is to empower South Asian American

youth, ages 18-25, to be a unified political voice and to allow South Asian American issues to be pushed to the forefront of American politics.

To educate, organize and mobilize South Asian youth to create a national united voice and increase political participation as well as civic engagement.

SAAVY will present their campaign goals and results at a later point in the debrief.

National StructureJanelle Hu

National CoordinatorAPIA Vote

Jeanette MoyAGA Coordinator

APIA Greek Alliance

Stephanie ChangRepresentative

NAASCon

Taz AhmedExecutive Director

SAAVY

AGA Organization Representatives

(13)

Go KasaiYouth Outreach Coordinator

APIA Vote

AGA Regional Representatives (7)

All Member Chapters (180

across 22 States)

7 Regions (77 Universities, 22 states

& Washington DC)

Field Plan

Workshops for national partner organizations Development and distribution of campaign

materials National campaign roll out Coordinated voter registration drives GOTV

Field Plan Workshops for national partner

organizations Conducted voter registration trainings for majority of the

partnering Greek-lettered societies either at their respective conferences or over conference call Five national conferences Nine teleconference training workshops Two regional workshops

NAASCon facilitated workshop at SERCAAL and Election wrap-up workshop with SAAVY at NAASCon

Conducted APIA U: Voter registration training for student leaders in the DC area during summer

Field Plan

Development and distribution of campaign materials Creation of AGA specific materials to be sent as mailers to

all chapters as “Back to School Mailer” Provided resources, information sheets, and outlines/tips

on the website (www.apiavote.org, http://vote2004.naascon.org, www.saavy.org)

Distributed APIA Vote/November 2 t-shirts, posters, and stickers, SAAVY door hanger

Field Plan

National campaign roll out Connected students with APIA Vote to provide resources

and information Timed press release to national media Email informational campaign to individual members Coordinated campaign follow up with regional and

organization leaders NAASCon manned online office hours for college students

in need of help SAAVY, through 8 fellows in 4 different states, outreached

to different organizations to run a 10 week campaign

Field Plan Voter Registration and GOTV Activities

Presidential debate parties Halloween GOTV parties Candidate forums Phone Banking APA issues forum South Asian roundtable Dorm Storming Bhangra Vote Parties Tabling on Campus Flyering

Door hangers Email, text message blasts Use of blogs and online

meet-up sites Fraternity and sorority

parties Inserting Voter registration

forms during Bookstore Rush

Field Plan Established national coalition structure for top

down implementation/execution of APIA Vote Youth Campaign

Coordinated national voter registration drives through regional and local efforts

Emphasized incorporation with pre-existing campus campaign efforts, such as Rock the Vote

Organized GOTV efforts, stressing high visibility programming

Campaign Results Challenges

Due to late date for campaign rollout, there was immense time constraint Organizations had pre-set calendars Voter registration deadlines by state Quarterly vs. Semester school programming

Understaffing for the large number of organizations involved

Lack of pre-existing national structure Under-funding in the youth movement General youth apathy

Campaign Results National Level

4.6 million more youth cast votes than in 2000 Turnout point up by 9.3 points Estimated number of votes cast by voters ages

18-29 was 20,996,000 APIA Vote

Over 3,000 known voter registrations APIA Vote partners registered estimated 15,000

total UMCP 1,901 new registrations

Future Planning Creation of a full-time position to work on APIA

youth organizing Begin working with the Greek-lettered societies and

student conferences months in advance to allow organizations to create their schedule

Provide leadership training and comprehensive voter education training for leaders involved in the campaign

To connect not only with campus organizations but also community organizations

Summation APIAs are one of the fastest growing populations in

the United States. Population to double by 2010 Triple by 2050

Our effort is not only to encourage our community to register and vote, but to convey a message to the public at large:

The new APIA generation is serious about being a part of the American Democracy, by becoming a visible voting constituency.