Wednesday, October 29, 2008

**GET OUT TO VOTE -- OUR VOICE COUNTS!**
Non-partisan Asian American community rally!!

Saturday, November 1, 2008
Rally: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Phone Bank: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. (Get Out The Vote!)
@ Philippine American Community Center of Michigan
17356 Northland Park Ct., Southfield, Michigan 48075

- FREE FOOD AND GIVEAWAYS (including gift cards, buttons, stickers, and car wash vouchers)
- THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY EVENT!
- National anthem sung by PaoKia Yang, Osborn High School Senior
- Speakers include: State Sen. Hansen Clarke; State Rep. Hoon-Yung Hopgood; Dr. Sook Wilkinson, Chair of Governor's Advisory Council on APA Affairs; Kimberly Wawrzyniak, Miss Philippines Michigan 2008; and MORE!

Hosted by APIAVote-Michigan & the Filipino American Political Association of Michigan
RSVP to Napapond: michiganfellow@apivote.org

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Oct. 27 and 30 Town Hall Meetings!!

Exercise your right to vote! Convened by the Michigan organizations of APIAVote, APALA, ACCESS, ACLU, LCLAA, and NAACP...

Bring friends! This is a family-friendly event. The election is less than two weeks away. Learn about Michigan's statewide ballot initiatives and about your voting rights! U.S. Congressman Michael Honda, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, will give remarks at the town hall on October 27.

Town Hall Meeting on the 2008 Ballot Issues and Know Your Rights!!!

Canton:
Monday, October 27, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
UAW Local 735, 48055 Michigan Ave., Canton, Michigan

Southwest Detroit:
Thursday, October 30, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Southwestern High School, 6921 W. Fort St., Detroit, Michigan


Refreshments provided... RSVP to Ying Gee at 313-926-5361 or Stephanie Chang at michigan@apiavote.org

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

33 days until the election! Three ways you can help...

Well, there are just thirty-three days until November 4, Election Day!

Want to help out? There are three major activities that APIAVote-Michigan really needs your help with:

1. Voter registration! Michigan's voter registration deadline is Monday, October 6! Register to vote by clicking the "register to vote" icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Also, check out some opportunities to help register people to vote.

2. Get Out The Vote (GOTV) phone banks! APIAVote needs your help in Wayne/Washtenaw, Oakland, and Macomb Counties, to call Asian American voters to remind them to vote on November 4! Our first big phonebank will take place on Saturday, October 11, 1:30 - 4:30 pm, Philippine American Community Center of Michigan, 17356 Northland Park Ct, Southfield. Come have pie, cider, and doughnuts!! Sign up to help out and check out the other volunteer opportunities here.

3. Election Day volunteering! Help to defend Asian & Arab American voting rights, by volunteering for three hours on Election Day, November 4, for the exit polling/election protection project we are working on with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Sign up to help out!

Hope to see you soon! :-)

Defending Asian & Arab American voting rights -- Election Day volunteers needed!

Asian and Arab American Election Protection and Poll Monitoring
Defending Asian American Voting Rights


************************************
Trainings
Wednesday, October 22, 12 Noon – Dickinson Wright PLLC, 500 Woodward Ave., Detroit
Wednesday, October 22, 3:00 PM – Dickinson Wright PLLC, 38525 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills
Wednesday, October 22, 6:00 PM – University of Michigan, Michigan Union, 530 S. State Street., Ann Arbor
Saturday, November 1, 4:00 PM - Philippine American Community Center of MI, 17356 Northland Park Ct., Southfield

In past elections, Asian and Arab Americans have faced a series of barriers in exercising their right to vote. In addition, candidates and the news media have often overlooked the Asian American vote. In response, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has monitored the elections for compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act, which mandates bilingual ballots and forbids anti-Asian voter discrimination, and conducted a non-partisan multilingual survey of voters to document Asian and Arab American voting patterns.

In 2004, 1,200 volunteers polled almost 11,000 Asian and Arab American voters in eight states. Volunteers are needed to administer a multilingual voter survey in 3-hour shifts and document voting problems on Election Day. Polls are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

There will be a one-hour training session for all volunteers in various locations. (90-minutes with CLE credits). All volunteers must be non-partisan during the time they help. To sign up and for a training schedule, go to www.aaldef.net or complete the volunteer form attached or/and pasted below, and send it to apia.right2vote@gmail.com or Gurtej Singh, c/o Navtej Singh, Affinity Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 380832, Clinton Township, MI 48038. Thank you!


VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP FORM

NAME: _____________________________________________________
ADDRESS: __________________________________________________
CITY: __________________________ STATE: ________ ZIP: _______
EMAIL: ______________________________________________________
PHONE: daytime ____________________ evening __________________
ORG./CO./SCHL./ASS'N: _______________________________________
ARE YOU?
___ Undergraduate student ___ Graduate student ___ Law student
___ Attorney ___ High school student ___ Community volunteer

WHERE DO YOU MOST PREFER TO BE STATIONED? (rank if multiple): ___No preference
___Detroit ___Hamtramck ___Ann Arbor ___Dearborn
___Canton ___Troy ___Novi ___No preference/Wherever most needed.

DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A CAR TO DRIVE TO YOUR SITE? []Yes []No
Some sites are not accessible by public transportation.

ON TUESDAY, NOV. 4, WHEN ARE YOU AVAILABLE TO VOLUNTEER? (rank 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
___6:00 - 9:00 am ___9:00 am – 12 N ___12 N - 3:00 pm ___Not yet sure.
___ 3:00 - 6:00 pm ___6:00 – 9:00 pm ___Other_________ ___Willing to do multiple shifts.

ARE YOU BILINGUAL IN ANY ASIAN LANGUAGE/DIALECT? (check all that apply)
Language ability is not required to volunteer but can be very helpful.
___Cantonese ___ Mandarin ___Korean ___Tagalog ___Japanese
___Hindi ___ Gujarati ___Punjabi ___Bengali ___Urdu
___Vietnamese ___Khmer ___Malayalam ___Arabic ___Hmong
___None ___Other_________

ARE YOU?
___ Past Volunteer: Year_____________
___ Partnering with another volunteer: Name _____________ (times must match).

You will be notified of trainings and other logistics upon receipt of this form.

RETURN THIS FORM TO:
AALDEF Election Protection Project- Michigan
Mail: Gurtej Singh, c/o Navtej Singh, Affinity Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 380832, Clinton Township, MI 48038
Email: apia.right2vote@gmail.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Gurtej Singh, apia.right2vote@gmail.com, (586) 354-3575
Napapond Fay, michiganfellow@apiavote.org, (248) 895-4107

OR

Glenn D. Magpantay, Bryan Lee, or Julia Yang
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
99 Hudson Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10013
800-966-5946 /info@aaldef.org

Five days until the Michigan voter registration deadline!

Notice something new on the blog? It's an online voter registration tool, our very own! Click on the blue "Register to Vote" icon and it'll walk you through the steps.

Want to help in the last few days before the voter registration deadline? We need all the help we can get! Or, if you have your own idea about where to do voter registration, want to register voters at your own church, Asian grocery store, neighborhood, etc, please let us know as soon as possible. Contact Napapond at michiganfellow@apiavote.org.

Check out what we're doing these last few days before the deadline...

THURSDAY

Oct. 2: APIAVote will present at a brownbag hosted by the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum – Michigan chapter!

FRIDAY

Oct. 3: APIAVote hopes to register voters at the University of Michigan TASA Skate Night, 9:30pm!

SATURDAY

Oct. 4: APIAVote will register voters and be represented at the Association of Chinese Americans annual dinner

SUNDAY

Oct. 5: Korean Central United Methodist Church, 10:45am-1:00pm, 500 W Gardenia Ave, Madison Heights. Contact Stephanie: 734-751-9814 or michigan@apiavote.org.

Oct. 5: Hmong Alliance Church in Warren: Morning. To be confirmed. Contact: Napapond: 248-895-4107 or michiganfellow@apiavote.org

Oct. 5: [Pan-Asian] Asian American Health Fair, 1-4pm, PACCM, 17356 Northland Park Ct, Southfield. Contact Napapond: 248-895-4107 or michiganfellow@apiavote.org.

Oct. 5: APIAVote will present at the Korean American Women’s Association meeting!

Oct. 5: UM Vietnamese Student Association Pho Night, 6-9pm, Trotter House, UM-Ann Arbor campus. Contact Stephanie: 734-751-9814 or Michigan@apiavote.org

Let us know if you want to help out!