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Voices from the Ground on Election Day
By Sunita Sohrabji
Election activists remained optimistic about a smooth voting process Nov 5 as millions of Americans stood in line to cast their ballots and then watch election results roll in.
“I never thought this would happen in my lifetime,” Sharon Lavigne, an environmental activist and founder of Rise St James, told Ethnic Media Services. “But it’s about to happen,” she said, referring to Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ historic bid for office. “I didn’t think that would happen, not in a million years.”
“Women are more compassionate about issues and about our lives. A woman president is going to see it. She’s going to try to do her best to help us to live a productive life with dignity and not have to breathe dirty air and not have clean water. She’s going to make sure that we have those essential things in life,” said Lavigne, who has embarked on a multi-year effort to keep a plastics factory out of her community, known as “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana.
“It’s a good feeling. Just the idea of knowing a woman would be the president,” said Lavigne.
More than 55 million people had already cast their ballots in early voting. But an unexpected number of people turned out to vote on Election Day, leaving polling sites short-staffed.
Unprecedented Enthusiasm
Speaking from the “battleground of battleground states,” Mohan Seshadri, Executive Director at the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance in Pennsylvania told Ethnic Media Services Nov 5 afternoon: “We’re seeing immense turnout. We’re hearing that the youth vote, the student vote is especially high.”
“We’re deeply concerned about long lines at college campuses all across Pennsylvania,” said Seshadri, advocating for polling places in Pennsylvania to stay open late and accommodate voters standing in line. “I think folks were not necessarily expecting the youth vote to be so high, but it is. And that’s incredibly exciting for an election like this,” he said.
Foreign Election Interference
John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, told EMS: “I am always optimistic about people showing up at the polls, people doing their civic duty, people that are volunteering, working, whether it’s as poll monitors, election workers, it really shows democracy in action. So that in itself gives me great hope.
“I will admit that coming in, like many of us, we had this feeling of concern, and nervousness. Many of us still share that. But on this day as well, I feel a certain energy,” he said, noting the large number of AAPI 1st time voters.
Yang expressed his concerns about foreign election interference, especially after the polls close. Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran have all embarked on election interference, using artificial intelligence to create deep fakes.
Young Latino Voters
More than 18 million Latino voters cast their ballots this year, said Carmen Feliciano, vice president of policy and advocacy at Unidos US. 38% were first time voters, including those in the critical 18-39 age group.
“It’s going to be exciting because those are voters that have not registered before. We need to really take a look and see what is it that they are going be voting for, and their alignment with one party or the other,” said Feliciano.
Undocumented Immigration
Maru Mora Villalpando, CEO of Latino Advocacy, noted that throughout her Presidential campaign, Harris has taken a hard line on undocumented immigrants, and would be unlikely to support them if elected.
“If she wins, is that she will keep the same process that Biden has had in place: stopping people at the border, refusing to let them in, refusing to follow the international protocols, keeping people in detention, expanding detention.” - Ethnic Media Services
