LOS ANGELES, CA – Contrary to mainstream exit poll results, the 2016 national Asian American Election Eve Poll reveals that Asian Americans voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by wide margins (75% to 19%), well-above the 47.7% support she garnered in the general national electorate.
Ethnically, Asian American support for Clinton was as follows: Chinese (69%), Filipino (78%), Indian (87%), Korean (65%), Vietnamese (74%), and Japanese (64%).
This unique poll surveyed 2,391 respondents from diverse Asian ethnic groups: Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese. Interviews were conducted in five languages, with all interviews completed in the language of preference of the respondents.
The survey was sponsored by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Education Association (NEA).
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S., with a population of more than 21 million, and AAPIs are a growing electorate that is increasingly influential yet often ignored.
By 2040, one in every ten Americans will be AAPI, and the number of voters will double to 12 million. The voting-age population of AAPIs already exceeds 10% in seven states, including California.
Advancing Justice-LA estimates that as of the November 2016 election, there were 1.8 million Asian American voters registered in the state (up more than 150,000 since 2012), including 502,000 Chinese Americans, 410,000 Filipino Americans, 271,000 Vietnamese Americans, 188,000 Indian Americans, 150,000 Korean Americans, and 117,000 Japanese Americans.
At the national level, 56% of Asian Americans now identify as Democrats, a marked jump from 49% in the same poll four years ago.
In California, Asian American support for Clinton was higher than her national support, with 79% of Asian Americans supporting Clinton versus 13% for Trump.
High numbers of Asian Americans in the state reported that Trump made them angry (72%) and afraid (64%).
“Roughly one out of every three Asian American voters nationwide lives in California – that’s 1.8 million Asian American voters in California alone,” said Dan Ichinose, Director of the Demographic Research Project at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles.
“This poll showed that Asian American voters in our state were particularly angry at Trump and afraid of the consequences of him being elected.”
“Despite attempts by several states to restrict the right to vote, we are glad that Asian American voter turnout was high in the 2016 elections,” said Margaret Fung, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), a New York-based national organization.