NEW YORK – The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) has said Filipino American voters made their voices heard in key Senate races in the 2006 mid-term US elections.

The findings were based on detailed results from AALDEF’s multilingual exit poll of hundreds of Filipino American voters during the elections. AALDEF, a 33-year-old civil rights organization, polled more than 4,700 Asian American voters in 23 cities and in nine states on Election Day nationwide. AALDEF surveyed a total of 308 Filipino American voters in nine states: New York , New Jersey , Michigan, Virginia , Maryland , Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington .

Said AALDEF Staff Attorney Glenn Magpantay, “Filipino Americans are a growing segment of the electorate. During the mid-term elections, Filipino American voters made their voices heard in key US Senate races, expressed strong opinions about priorities for the 2008 elections, and held strong opinions about family reunification and allowing the undocumented to legalize their status in immigration reform policy."

“AALDEF’s findings on the Filipino American electorate tracks well with what we have learned on the field," says Gloria T. Caoile, Co-Chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) FilVote program. “The exit polls show correlations to length of stay, education, and civic participation. Filipino Americans set roots, become citizens and vote. It’s their belief in America ‘s future that drives them to the polls."

Said Perry Diaz, Co-Chair of NaFFAA FilVote, “Political awareness is the key ingredient to empowerment. I believe that the Filipino-American community has the numbers to make a difference in the American electoral process. FilVote’s role is to make ‘political awareness’ a priority because only through education can we bring our community to a consciousness that ‘the power of the vote’ drives real economic progress and eventually political empowerment."

On Election Day November 7, 2006, AALDEF, with the help of several co-sponsoring organizations and more than 600 attorneys, law students, and volunteers, conducted a nonpartisan, multilingual exit poll of over 4,700 Asian American voters. The questionnaire was available in English and nine Asian languages. Voters were surveyed in 23 cities across nine states-New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Washington-as well as Washington, D.C. As part of this effort, AALDEF surveyed a total of 308 Filipino American voters. Highlights of the findings include:

Most Filipino American voters were surveyed in the following states: New York (44%), New Jersey (15%), Virginia (12%), and Maryland (11%).
Eighty-five percent (85%) were foreign-born citizens. One out of five (22%) respondents had no formal U.S. education, and 10% were first-time voters. Ten percent (10%) of respondents expressed that they were limited English proficient, and 16% identified English as their native language. It found that majority of* *Filipino Americans voted for Democratic candidates.

Nearly three out of four (74%) Filipino Americans voted for the Democratic candidate in their state’s top-ballot race. Twenty-four percent (24%) voted for the Republican candidate, and 2% voted for other candidates.

Over half (51%) of Filipino American respondents were registered Democrats, while 22% were registered Republicans, and nearly a quarter (24%) were not enrolled in any political party.

“Economy/Jobs” was the most important issue Filipino Americans identified for 2008 presidential candidates to address.
The three most important issues for 2008 presidential candidates to address were: Economy/Jobs (27%), Health Care (20%), and the War in Iraq (14%). Other issues of concern included: Education (12%), Terrorism/Security (11%), Immigration (10%), and Moral Issues (5%).
Filipino Americans supported reducing immigration backlogs and the legalization of undocumented immigrants, while they opposed criminalizing the undocumented. Of those who gave an opinion, 89% of Filipino American said they favored reducing the amount of time the government takes to process paperwork for immigrants waiting to enter the country. Additionally, 89% of respondents said they favored creating a way for undocumented immigrants to legalize their status. Seventy percent (70%) of respondents also said they opposed making being undocumented a crime.

Sixteen percent (16%) of respondents said they had been affected by anti-immigrant sentiment in at least one of the following locations: at work, at school, or in a public location. Of those, over half (52%) said they had been affected by anti-immigrant sentiment in public locations. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires that only certain first-time voters provide identification to vote. Yet 89% of Filipino American voters asked to show identification in order to vote were not required to do so under this federal law.