Project VOTE: A Report on Lessons Learned About Increasing Civic Engagement in Southeast Asian Communities

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The Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) are pleased to present Project VOTE: A Report on Lessons Learned About Increasing Civic Engagement in Southeast Asian Communities. The report highlights lessons learned from the Voting Orientation Training and Empowerment Project (“Project VOTE”), a study of two Southeast Asian American (SEA) communities and their voting behaviors, and ends with recommendations and strategies for future work around increasing civic participation and political empowerment in Southeast Asian American communities.

One significant finding of the study is that resource-limited community-based organizations interested in increasing the civic engagement of their communities face real challenges, such as language barriers and lack of long-term investments in civic engagement programs. The report also takes a brief look at the Hmong-American community in Wausau, Wisconsin and the Cambodian-American community in Long Beach, California, two SEA communities with very different political and social contexts.

We hope that this report will raise awareness for the need to invest in increasing the civic engagement of new communities.

For more information about the Project VOTE study or report, please contact Jennet Sambour, or Terry Ao.