On Tuesday, September 17, our partners gathered around the country to support National Voter Registration Day. These efforts included canvassing, phonebanking, innovative partnerships, and voter registration drives from tea shops to art expos to community centers to college campuses.
Check out some of the initiatives below!
New York: APA Voice
Organizations belonging to APA Voice hosted multiple voter registration events on September 17 across Queens and Brooklyn, including at the Flushing YMCA (Queens), Lefferts & Liberty (Little Guyana), Diversity Plaza (Jackson Heights),CPG Brooklyn Center (Brooklyn), and Essex Market @ Essex & Broome.
Texas: Asian Texans for Justice (ATJ)
ATJ rolled out a series of voter registration events across Texas, partnering with local Asian organizations. Events included voter registration at senior centers, Islamic centers, supermarkets, and cultural festivals in cities like Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas Fort-Worth, and the Rio Grande Valley. ATJ is also sharing translated graphics for National Voter Registration Day.
Texas: SAAVETX
SAAVETX is gearing up for a month-long series of voter registration events targeting new citizens, students on college campuses, places of worship, and high schools. They are also engaging communities through creative avenues like art exhibits to promote voter registration.
Florida: AAPI Coming Together (ACT)
ACT worked on community outreach at the 3rd Annual Orlando Moon Festival. They tabled in conjunction with NAPAWF, FLAAPP, and APIAVote to make sure our community is ready to vote. They were also phonebanking!
Nevada: One APIA Nevada
One APIA Nevada organized a range of engaging voter registration events, including at Reno’s Mid-Autumn Festival on September 15, a “More Puppies & More Boba” event on September 17, a tabling at Euphoria Dispensary on September 17, and a high school tabling. They also hosted educational events like the “Ballots & Brunch” to inform voters about ballot questions.
North Carolina: NCAAT (North Carolina Asian Americans Together)
NCAAT is conducting Community Canvass Days from Sep 14 – Nov 2, kicking off with a collaboration with the Charlotte Hornets in Mecklenburg county. During NVRD and the week of Sep 16, they will be tabling at several campuses and festivals to drive voter registration, including UNC Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Greensboro, and Duke University.
California: OCAPICA
OCAPICA has and will continue to be tabling at community and college events, including the Mid-Autumn Festival (9/13) in Irvine [5:30pm-9:30pm – 8000 Great Park Blvd., Irvine, CA], the Mid-Autumn Festival (9/17) at Orange Coast College [11am-1pm – OCC Quad, 2701 Fairview Road Costa Mesa, California 92626], and at Fullerton College (9/18) [11am-1pm – Fullerton College Quad, 321 East Chapman Ave], to encourage voter participation.
Ohio: OCA Greater Cleveland
OCA Greater Cleveland hosted a Voter Registration Drive Happy Hour at Mango Mango Dessert’s Mid-Autumn Mango Mixer, on Sep 17 from 4-6pm. Attendees also got discounted drinks and a free headshot photoshoot.
Ohio: Asian Services in Action
Asian Services in Action had their seniors engagement day at the Jin Huo Community center, a senior adult services center that serves the Nepali, Chinese, Ka’Ren, and Burmese seniors in the community. They had a civic engagement activity day where they brought pomelos (for Mid-Autumn Festival) for the seniors. They played a trivia game with the seniors about voting, shared with them important information about this year’s election day, registered folks to vote or updated their addresses, helped seniors fill out absentee ballot applications, and confirmed registrations so that they know their in-person polling location.
Ohio: Target Ohio
Target Ohio ran a voter registration drive for National Voter Registration Day!
Massachusetts: Chinese Progressive Association–Boston
Asian Americans United ran a voter registration drive for National Voter Registration Day!
Missouri: MAAY Foundation
MAAY Foundation is organizing voter registration during a Mid-Autumn Festival at Washington University to engage the local community in the voting process.
Minnesota: CAPI USA
CAPI USA planned a National Voter Registration Day picnic outing with voter registration activities at two central locations in Saint Paul and Brooklyn Park, combining canvassing training with team-building activities to reach a broader audience.
Oregon: APANO
APANO supported grassroots partners in reaching new AANHPI voters, with events like voter registration at local markets, libraries, and naturalization ceremonies. They also hosted voter education sessions for Vietnamese and Chinese communities.
Pennsylvania: Asian Americans United (AAU)
Asian Americans United ran a voter registration drive for National Voter Registration Day!
Utah: OCA Utah
OCA Utah organized voter outreach and registration at Space Tea, a locally-owned boba shop in downtown Salt Lake City, to engage the community in a relaxed, social setting.
Utah: National Tongan American Society
The National Tongan American Society came together for a voter registration drive in partnership with the Southern University of Utah’s PISA club. They registered 136 people in two hours! There was Polynesian music and dancing, as well as custom shirts offered to attendees.
National: SALDEF
SALDEF hosted a webinar, titled “Kaur Power Hour: Harnessing the SikhVOTE for National Voter Registration Day,” on Sep 17 from 12-1pm PST.
National: APIAVote
On NVRD, APIAVote staff and interns participated in a text banking campaign to get the AAPI community in Arizona, Ohio and Georgia registered to vote. Together, the team texted over 40,000 eligible voters in battleground states!
New Jersey: AAPI New Jersey
AAPI New Jersey hosted a Ballots and Brownies table outside of Vesta Chocolate, a Korean/Dominican-owned chocolate shop in Montclair, NJ (9/17 between 11:30-1pm and 5:30-7pm). They will be doing GOTV tabling at Korea Festival (9/28), a potential event honoring the life of Victoria Lee (10/12), and during their Diwali celebration Light Up Montclair (10/19).
Multi-State: Yuzu
Match Group’s Asian American dating and social app Yuzu teamed up with Boba Guys and APIAVote to empower young Asian American voters throughout the month of November. The campaign features a voter registration drive, with an election portal designed specifically for the Asian American community that includes voter registration resources; step-by-step guides for voting in person, by mail, or via absentee ballot; and education tools designed for first-time voters. The partnership with Boba Guys includes a limited-edition yuzu strawberry lemonade “#YuzuYourVote” drink available across Boba Guys’ locations. YUZU x APIAVote-branded drink sleeves will bear the message “Yuzu Your Voice! Every Vote Counts,” alongside a QR code linking to the election portal, beginning on National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 17. The campaign also includes co-hosted voter registration pop-up events at Boba Guys locations in Las Vegas (Oct. 4), Atlanta (Oct. 11) and Miami (Oct. 19), featuring campaign merch such as Yuzu stickers, and pins.