Vote effort targets Asian American groups

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The Asian Pacific American Legal Center has launched a campaign aimed at increasing voter turnout among Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders in the Los Angeles area.

‘Your Vote Matters! 2012’ includes 13 community-based organizations and five youth groups representing nine Asian ethnicities in Southern California, the center announced Tuesday.

The campaign includes a special push for Prop. 30, the governor-backed tax measure on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Center Executive Director Stewart Kwoh noted that the Asian American population in California had grown by more than 33% in the last decade--the highest percentage of any group--according to U.S. Census data.

‘But even though we made up over 15% of the state’s population and are voting in greater numbers than we ever have before,’ Kwoh said in a statement, ‘our voices have yet to be fully heard at the ballot box.’

The center hopes to change that by ‘providing our communities with personal encouragement to vote and key information about what’s at stake in this election,’ Kwoh said.

The center also plans to again monitor polling sites to ensure Asian Americans can carry out their right to vote, especially those needing help with translations and other language assistance.

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--Jean Merl