Asian American voter turnout lags behind other groups; some non-voters say they’re ‘too busy’

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http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/09/asian-american-voter-turnout-lags-behind-other-groups-some-non-voters-say-theyre-too-busy/



About three-in-ten Asian-American eligible voters have cast ballots in midterm elections since 1998, a much lower turnout rate than that of whites and blacks, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

With an estimated 9 million eligible voters in 2014, the Asian-American electorate for this fall’s midterm elections makes up 4% of all eligible voters. By contrast, Hispanics—the largest minority group—today make up 11.3% of all eligible voters. In the run-up to the 2012 president election, some analysts called the Asian-American electorate a potential swing vote, despite its relatively small size.

Immigrants make up 74% of the Asian-American adult population. Among eligible Asian-American voters– U.S. citizens ages 18 or older– immigrants vote about as often as the native born (31%-31%.)

In 2010, Asian-American voter turnout was 31%. That’s about the same as the turnout among Hispanics, and far below blacks (44%) and whites (49%). Turnout lagged even though the level of education and income of the Asian-American electorate, as a whole, is higher than for whites, blacks and Hispanics.