Reply #10: AALDEF Voting Rights Trainings

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ASIAN AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS TRAININGS

AALDEF attorneys train 250 Asian American community leaders and organizations in 7 states on voter registration, voters’ rights on Election Day, and proper voter ID requirements

Throughout the summer, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), a 34-year old national civil rights organization, has provided free legal trainings in multiple cities to assist Asian American community-based organizations in conducting voter registration drives and to prepare for the fall Presidential Elections.

To date, AALDEF has trained over 250 Asian American community leaders and organizations in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Attorneys provided legal information under local, state, and federal laws about:

(1) legal responsibilities in conducting voter registration;
(2) voters’ rights on Election Day regarding interpreters, provisional ballots, identification requirements, and remedies to problems; and
(3) legal rules regarding electoral and voter education activities for tax-exempt nonprofit organizations.

In particular, the trainings dispelled many misunderstandings about current voter identification requirements. The US Supreme Court’s decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board and Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita, which upheld an Indiana law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification, have confused voters about the proper requirements in their states. AALDEF had filed an amicus ("friend of the court") brief in the case detailing how such laws have been misapplied or only applied to Asian American voters.

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