Can South Asians IMPACT the Vote?
Mahatma Gandhi statue at the southwest corner of Union Square.
Photo by Cristina Mauro
The name Mahatma Gandhi evokes various imagery: a spectacled man in a white loincloth, starvation protests, peace and nonviolence. A steadfast believer in individual freedom and equal human rights, Gandhi advocated for peaceful protest through acts of civil disobedience and proclaimed “you must be the change you wish to see in the world.” What you may not know is that rocking the vote has now taken on some distinctly Gandhian characteristics.
Last Saturday marked the sixth annual National Gandhi Day of Service, an event sponsored by SAALT (South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow) to involve people in civic engagement and community service around the world. The day’s activities encouraged critical thinking about the relevance of Gandhi’s ideas in today’s world, especially as related to political freedom. Given the heightened importance of this year’s presidential election, several organizations focused on reaching out to people who haven’t historically been represented as voters, such as South Asian Americans.
While the South Asian American population has recently experienced massive increases, particularly on the East Coast (in New York alone, this group grew by nearly 80 percent between 1990 and 2000), it is widely underrepresented in local, state, and national elections. According to Palash Pandya, leader of the Project IMPACT’s New York/New Jersey chapter, actual numbers are hard to come by. “It’s tough to peg how many South Asians are actually voting,” he said, but it’s clear that the numbers aren’t nearly as high as they could be, given the recent South Asian population influx. As Pandya explained, “many of our parents immigrated from India years ago with the intention of returning home,” resulting in their collective reluctance to become involved in American politics.
Project IMPACT, a national nonprofit organization which seeks to register and educate South Asian Americans on voting rights, political participation, and community involvement, is working to change those numbers. In preparation for the 2004 presidential election, the organization is sponsoring one to two voter registration drives per weekend in heavily concentrated South Asian areas such as Jackson Heights in Queens, as well as Jersey City and Edison, New Jersey.
It’s no coincidence that on this year’s National Gandhi Day of Service, Project IMPACT was out in full force throughout the streets of New York City trying to rock the vote. Perched behind a folding table outside the Delhi Palace restaurant on 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Pandya good-naturedly attempted to gain the attention of the sari-clad women and turbaned men on cell phones as they jostled in the mid-afternoon shopping rush. “Hi, are you registered to vote?” he repeated endlessly, and with unwavering patience. While many passersby shot him annoyed glances or simply ignored his question, some slowed down enough to give Pandya a chance to explain how to fill out the appropriate forms in time for New York’s Oct. 8 registration deadline.
Working the streets, like both Pandya and members of cooperating organizations do, serves as both an exercise in social rejection and a group effort. SAAVY (South Asian American Voting Youth) was also out Saturday with clipboards and friendly smiles. “We’re not anywhere near our goal for getting people registered,” lamented Kiran Gore, of SAAVY’s “Vote SAAVY” campaign that kicked off nationally this week with the goal of registering 1,000 new South Asian voters before Oct. 8.
Such frustration is aptly warranted, according to Pandya, who has found that a more effective strategy is simply getting people involved in discussions about the election generally, or about the voter registration procedures which may be intimidating to those unfamiliar with forms and deadlines.
Last Saturday, Pandya also tried to lure in prospective voters with free stuff. A man in a bright orange turban approached and said that he was already registered, but wanted a Rock the Vote pin and a sticker to bring home to his wife. “I’m an Independent, but Kerry blew Bush away in the debates,” he told Pandya as he stashed a handful of Rock the Vote products in his pockets.
“After September 11, we encountered lots of resistance on the streets,” explained Pandya. “People were scared to give us any information, and registering to vote was suddenly a thing to be feared.” Because registering to vote in New York requires submission of either a New York driver’s license or the last four social security digits, many immigrants are frightened to release this information about themselves for various reasons, especially in the wake of the Patriot Act.
These days, he noted, the immigrant community has shed some of its reluctance, although “many people we approach aren’t citizens, and even those that are citizens are sometimes hesitant to talk to us.” That’s why Project IMPACT is placing so much emphasis on engaging people in conversation about the political issues relevant to their lives. The organization has even created a civics orientation “cheat sheet” to inform people about their rights as recent immigrants or citizens, how to register to vote, and other information to help them get involved in their communities.
By the time the early evening rain clouds forced him to pack up his banners and folding table, Pandya had gathered more than 20 voter registration forms. Although he had been on the sidewalk since noon, he still viewed the day as a success. “About two people actually registering per hour is what we’d call a good response,” he said, as he congratulated his SAAVY compatriots on their hard work and confirmed their plans for both organizations to be present at the following day’s Diwali festival in downtown Manhattan.
As Gandhi himself once declared, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. “If we can get even one person interested, hopefully that person will go home and make friends and family aware that these issues are affecting them,” Pandya emphasized energetically, as he gave out one last pin. “This is just the first step.”
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South Asian American Leaders of Tomorrow
South Asian American Voting Youth
Project IMPACT
