Ed. Note: Our friend Mini Timmaraju passed this media statement along to us.
STATEMENT FROM ASIAN-AMERICAN DEMOCRATS OF TEXAS
Contact: Mustafa Tameez 713.247.9600
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State Representative Betty Brown’s recent comments demonstrate how much work remains to be done in order for the Texas Legislature to recognize the diverse reality of this great state. According to the nation’s largest nonpartisan exit poll of Asian Americans(*), nearly 70% of Asian voters were asked for ID at the polls – in states where no ID was required. In New York City, where there is no ID requirement, the study showed that 1 in 6 Asian Americans were asked for ID, while white Americans in the same study were not asked for proof of ID.
Over the past several years, as voters have been able to understand a ballot in their native language, we’ve seen dramatic changes in who represents Texas voters.
Since 2002, there have been three Asian-Americans elected to the Texas State House of Representatives – two Republican, one Democratic. None of these were elected in majority-Asian districts. Apparently, thousands of Texas voters were smart enough to evaluate these candidates on their merits, look at their name, and vote according to their preference.
Yet, in 2009, State Representative Betty Brown is under the impression that election workers whom we entrust to conduct the most vital component of American democracy cannot match a name on a voter registration card with the name on voter rolls. Rather than suggest that the hundreds of thousands of Texans of Asian descent change their names for a handful of election officials incapable of making a match, perhaps the problem lies elsewhere. Unfortunately, Brown has decided to cast her lot by answering a question that hasn’t been asked with her support of Voter ID (SB362).
Mustafa Tameez – a leading expert of Asian American voting trends – said, “Additional restrictive Voter ID requirements such as SB362 will have a disparaging impact on Asian American voters.” He went on to add, “It would seem that State Representative Brown should be more concerned about better training for a few election workers than millions of Texans having to change their name because they have more than one vowel in their last name.”
“The Asian American Democrats of Texas (AADT) is encouraging Asian American voters to contact their state legislators and urge them to oppose SB362,” said A.J. Durrani, president of AADT.
The Asian American Democrats of Texas is a Statewide Democratic organization affiliated with the Texas Democratic Party, as well as a registered Political Action Committee with the Texas Ethics Commission.
Visit www.aadt.us for more information about our organization, to sign the petition against SB362, and for information about how to become a member.
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* – Source: Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, “Voter Identification”
