The 2020 Census and the Elections were particularly important at this critical juncture in history. Participation in both the Census and the Elections has long-term effects: the results of the 2020 Census will determine how much federal funding will flow into the community every year for the next decade (one person = $3,000 of federal funding each year); the electoral turnout will measure the political influence of Korean Americans. Yet Koreans have been under-counted in the Census and under-represented in the Elections. Studies show there is a discrepancy between the number of the Korean American population, estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau (1.8 million) and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea (2.5 million). This means at least half a million are not being counted, making Koreans officially a Hard-to-Count demographic group.
Furthermore, AAPI DATA’s analysis on the Asian American vote in 2016 revealed that voting rates among Korean American adult citizens were lowest (46%) relative to Whites and Blacks (65.3% and 59.4%, respectively) and even Latinos (47.6%). It was vitally important to engage Korean American voters, especially non-English proficient first generation Koreans and young second generation first-time voters.
Our Contributions
The Foundation sponsored the creation of KA Vote, a nationwide Task Force that quickly assembled Korean American organizations nationwide to increase Korean American participation in the 2020 Census and the Elections. Led by the Korean American Coalition (KAC) and the Korean American Association of Greater New York (KAAGNY), the Task Force was made up of first and second generation Korean American leaders representing 60 regional and national organizations — that worked together to encourage Korean Americans to complete the Census online before the October 15th deadline as well as to register to vote before each state’s deadline.
The Task Force was able to provide timely and bilingual information through its website, www.kavote.org, as well as social media, earned media, paid ads (print, radio, TV, digital) as well as in-person and virtual events (ie. R&B concert for second generation and trot concert for first generation) and other special initiatives (ie. music video, photo contest).
Our Impact
Short Term
While the final data from the Census and the 2020 Elections is not yet available, the Foundation’s immediate goals to increase Korean American civic engagement were met: between the first week of September to Election Day on November 3rd, KA Vote reached more than 1 million Korean Americans nationwide through various platforms, which contributed to an uptick in Korean American participation in the Census and Elections. It has already been revealed that more Americans voted in the 2020 election than in more than 100 years. Nearly 65 percent of the voting-eligible population, almost 161 million Americans, broke records for voter turnout, including an unprecedented number of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) that cast a ballot. Nationally, 5% more AAPI voters cast a ballot than voted in the entirety of the 2016 election. In every single battleground state, AAPI voters saw a bigger percent increase in votes cast, relative 2016 than any other group, and became the margin of victory.
Long Term
This gain in a few percentage points became particularly significant in the 2020 presidential elections as well as in tight congressional races. As a result, there are now four Korean Americans in the U.S. Congress, and all across the nation’s state legislatures and city councils. The long lasting impact of the Foundation’s investment in mobilizing the Korean American electorate is increased representation of Korean Americans as well as political empowerment of the community. Through KA Vote, the Foundation has helped build an infrastructure that has an extended outreach to engage and unite the Korean American community–both first generation and second generation Koreans, on a local and national scale.