\u201cThe children of…European parentage, quickly merge into the mass of our population and lose the distinctive hallmarks of their European origin. On the other hand, it cannot be doubted that the children born in this country of Hindu parents would retain indefinitely the clear evidence of their ancestry…and it is of such character and extent that the great body of our people instinctively recognize it and reject the thought of assimilation.\u201d \u2014United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, Certificate from The Circuit Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit, Supreme Court of the United States<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Voter disenfranchisement is one of the most symbolic contemporary acts of political violence against Asian Americans\u2014the perpetual foreigner within a political system designed to privilege white racial identity. In fact, Asian Americans as a racial group could not vote until 1952, and all people of color were disenfranchised by racist policies, like prohibitive taxes, literacy tests, no language access, and other measures until the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and amendments made in 1975\u2014only one year before my parents immigrated as part of the U.S.’s brain drain of Asia.<\/p>\n

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Currently, a so-called voter fraud prevention firm is being hired by state governments to disenfranchise millions of voters. It\u2019s being called a \u201cmassive purge\u201d, and tens of thousands of the mostly black, Asian, and Latino voters on the list have already been disappeared from the rolls. A six-month-long, nationwide investigation by Al Jazeera America<\/a> (AJAM) described the purge:\u00a0\u201cAt the heart of this voter-roll scrub is the Interstate Crosscheck program, which has generated a master list of nearly 7 million names. Officials say that these names represent legions of fraudsters who are not only registered but have actually voted in two or more states in the same election\u2014a felony punishable by 2 to 10 years in prison.\u201d The names are compiled by matching names like Jackson, Garcia, Patel and Kim across states, as being representative of voters who committed fraud by double voting.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, AJAM noted that 73 percent of Asian Americans across ethnic groups voted Democrat in the last presidential election\u2014a fact that Crosscheck is likely aware of. Yesterday’s mid-term elections continued to support that leaning, as found in an Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund\u00a0exit poll of Asian American<\/a> voters in 11 states\u2013New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, and Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

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