Historic Presidential Town Hall on Asian American and Pacific Islander Issues

More than 2,500 AAPIs nationwide are expected to attend the first ever APIAVote Presidential Town Hall on May 17 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the University of California at Irvine’s Bren Events Center. APIAVote has invited Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, and Senator John McCain to discuss issues and policies important to AAPI communities.

Hosted by Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) in conjunction with the 9th Annual Convention of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), the event will provide an unprecedented opportunity for presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain to discuss their views, positions, and proposals on issues affecting AAPIs.

AAPIs are the fastest growing minority in the country. With more than 14.4 million Asian Americans and approximately one million Pacific Islanders, AAPIs make up more than five percent of the U.S. population. AAPIs are concentrated in Hawai’i, California, Washington, New Jersey, Illinois, and New York, and also within the metro regions of Nevada, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Louisiana.

AAPIs can make powerful voting blocs if harnessed and courted. Nationally, nearly seven million AAPIs are eligible to vote, and more than half are registered, an increase from a 30 percent registration rate from 1998. Nearly three million AAPIs voted in the 2004 elections.

APIAVote ( www.apiavote.org) is a national non-partisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state, and local levels. National CAPACD ( www.nationalcapacd.org) is the first national advocacy organization dedicated to addressing the community development, organizing, and advocacy needs of the diverse and rapidly growing AAPI communities nationwide.

The town hall will be simulcast in selected cities and venues.