Opinion: In 2016, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Are Ready To Be Heard
For too long, the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has been rendered invisible and taken for granted. Under-representation and marginalization in social, cultural, and political spheres has become the norm for AAPIs throughout our nation's history.
But in this 2016 election cycle, this powerful community is mobilizing and letting its voices be heard.
While we know that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing populations in the United States, the AAPI community is also one of the fastest growing electorates — the AAPI electorate is on track to double by 2040. Even today, one in four U.S. Congressional districts have populations with more than 5 percent AAPIs, where AAPIs exceed 5 percent of the population in nearly 600 cities and municipalities.
AAPI voters have already reached the threshold to yield significant influence over the outcome of elections across the country.
In Nevada, for example, President Barack Obama won the state by 6.7 percent in 2012. This year, an estimated 9 percent of eligible voters in Nevada will be from the AAPI community. In Virginia, there are an estimated 310,000 eligible AAPI voters, decidedly eclipsing the estimated 149,000 votes that decided the state in 2012.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/opinion-2016-asian-americans-pacific-islanders-are-ready-be-heard-n581866
