Fil-Am group trying to boost Filipino turnout in ’16 U.S. polls
Filipino Americans for Justice Executive Director Lillian Galedo; the group is trying to boost Fil-Am voter turnout in Northern California.
OAKLAND, California — In a bid to “Rock the Ballot” during this year’s U.S. elections, a Filipino-American advocacy group is raising funds in various Filipino communities in Northern California to boost the turnout of Filipino American voters.
Statibg that 2016 is a critical election year for immigrant rights, Filipino Advocates for Justice (FAJ) believes that Filipino voters have the potential to significantly affect government policies by increasing their participation at the polls.
The growing foreign-born population is becoming a significant political force in California. Filipinos have the second largest rate of naturalization in the state and the potential to be a force in the electoral arena.
In some localities, like Union City, Filipinos are 13 percent of the voting population. FAJ is trying to bolster its capacity to encourage active voter participation as new citizens and children of immigrants become voters.
The group believes that Filipino voters would choose voters who support immigrant rights and seek the protection from mass deportations of undocumented youths and their parents.
“Our mission is to build a strong and empowered Filipino community by organizing constituents, developing leaders, providing services, and advocating for policies that promote social and economic justice and equity for all,” said Lillian Galedo, executive director of the Oakland, California-based FAJ, which was established in 1973.
Filipino American registered voters need to turnout in larger numbers, say Filipino community advocates.
California has over 396,00 Filipino registered voters, according to FAJ. Among the top 10 counties with Filipino registered voters in the state are Los Angeles (131,000); San Diego (38,000); Alameda (28,000); Santa Clara (25,000); Orange County (25,000); San Mateo (22,000); Contra Costa (15,000); Riverside (13,000); Sacramento (13,000) and San Francisco (12,000).
While there are larger numbers of Filipino voters in Southern California, Filipinos constitute a significant percentage of the electorate in San Francisco/BayArea counties: San Mateo (6.4%); San Joaquin (3.7%); Alameda (3.6%); Santa Clara (3.6%); Solano (3.3%); Contra Costa (3.0%); San Francisco (3.0%); San Diego (2.8%); Los Angeles 2.7%) and Monterey (2.7%).
Filipinos in Alameda County grew 19 percent between 2000 and 2010 to a population of over 80,000 to date. Over 30 percent of registered Philippine-born voters in California reside in four Bay Area counties: Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco.
At the same time, FAJ reported that five Alameda County cities has the highest proportion of Filipino voters: Hayward (18%); Union City (17%); Fremont (16%); San Leandro (9%) and Oakland (8%) out of which 55 percent were female while 45 percent were male voters.
But FAJ data revealed that Asian American voter turnout in Alameda County for the 2010 general election was at 31 percent, far less than whites (41%) and blacks (44%).
In the past, FAJ conducted a voter education and mobilization drive in Alameda that included sending out a voter guide to more than 5,400 Filipino registered voters in Oakland, Union City and Alameda.
It has phone banked to over 1,000 Oakland Filipino voters to answer questions about ranked choice voting and various propositions.
The group also deployed Election Day volunteers to document compliance with language access standards. It also joined other Asian American organization in conducting a poll on voter turnout.
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