CNN exit polls showed that 62% of Asian Americans voted for Barack Obama, while only 35% voted for John McCain. In California, where 6% of the voting population is Asian American, the vote was 64% Obama and 35% McCain. In Hawaii, where 30% of the voting population is Asian American, 68% vote for Obama and 30% McCain. Additionally, studies showed that Asian-Americans were a “deciding factor” in the presidential race in several states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Virginia, Nevada and Minnesota.

How does this differ from the National Asian American Survey?

National Asian American Survey (NAAS) shows that 41% of Asian Americans are likely to favor Obama, while 24% support John McCain. 34% were undecided. Looks like the undecided Asian American vote went to Obama 2 to 1.

In California, Proposition 8 – Ban on Gay Marriage was evenly split among Asian American Voters (49% voted Yes, while 51% voted No) in the CNN exit poll. There was a big difference here from the National Asian American Survey, where 57% of likely voters favored a No vote, 32% favored a Yes vote, and 11% said they did not know if they favored or opposed the proposition.

All six Asian-Americans in the House of Representatives successfully defended their seat in congressional elections including:

Mazie Keiko Hirono (D) : Hawaii – District 2

Mike Honda (D) : California – District 15

Doris Matsui (D) : California – District 5

David Wu (D): Oregon – District 1

Several other Asian Americans failed to win House seats including:

Edwin “Ed” Chau (D) : California – District 42

Raymond Chui (R) : California – District 13

Navraj Singh (R) : California – District 27

J. Ashwin Madia (D) : Minnesota – District 3

Charles Hahn (R): California – District 29

Hank Eng (D) : Colorado – District 6

Asian American leaders expect president-elect Obama to appoint members of the community in key posts in his administration to reflect the rapidly growing ethnic group. Two names being floated as possible cabinet appointees are Congressman Mike Honda and Former WA State Governor Gary Locke. Preeta Bansal, currently a senior advisor on the Obama campaign, may be considered for the position of Solicitor General in the Department of Justice according to Sepia Mutiny.

Asian Americans, especially new citizens and first-time voters, turned out to vote in record numbers, but many encountered barriers at polling places, ranging from inadequate language assistance, improper requests for identification, and missing names on voter rolls. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) dispatched over 1,400 attorneys, law students and community volunteers to over 130 polling places in 11 states with large Asian American populations, who recorded voter complaints and conducted a nonpartisan multilingual exit poll.

AALDEF received hundreds of complaints from Asian American voters on their telephone hotline, 800-966-5946, and from their volunteer poll monitors in 11 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana, Texas, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. A preliminary list of voting incidents include :

NAMES OF REGISTERED ASIAN AMERICANS NOT ON VOTER ROLLS

RACIST REMARKS AND IMPROPER POLL WORKER CONDUCT

INADEQUATE NUMBERS OF ASIAN-LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS

ASIAN-LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE NEEDED, BUT NOT AVAILABLE

IMPROPER REQUESTS FOR IDENTIFICATION

BROKEN VOTING MACHINES

DELAYS AND LONG LINES/NOT ENOUGH POLL WORKERS

AALDEF Election Protection PSA