Asian American Legal Advocacy (AALAC) launches voter engagement campaign

The Asian American Legal Advocacy (AALAC) has launched its “10,000 Korean Votes” campaign to enhance voter engagement and voting by Korean-Americans. From their press release:

AALAC announce[d] the launch of its “10,000 Korean Votes” campaign specifically targeting Korean Americans living in Gwinnett.  The goal of the campaign is to get 10,000 Koreans to register and vote during the 2014 elections, and also sign a petition requesting that official ballots be provided in the Korean language.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits the U.S. government from racial discrimination in voting. The Act contains numerous provisions that regulate the administration of elections.   Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires jurisdictions containing significant language minority populations to provide bilingual ballots and interpreters.

“Based on our research, there are over 11,000 Korean American voting age citizens in Gwinnett County who would have an easier time voting if ballots were in the Korean language,” said Helen Ho AALAC’s Executive Director.  “We know we have the numbers and want to work with our Korean community to push for Korean language ballots.  We know this will increase the number of Koreans voting and build power for the Korean community as a whole,” said Ms. Ho.