President Bill Clinton, on behalf of Democratic presidential nominee Secretary Hillary Clinton, and Libertarian presidential nominee Governor Gary Johnson will be headlining a presidential election forum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Friday. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign has been invited to the forum but hasn’t confirmed.
Reno Public Radio’s Anh Gray reports the event is targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander voters.
The event is expected to draw four thousand people from the Asian-American and Pacific Islander, or AAPI community. This the fastest growing racial group in the country.
Cherina Kleven is with the Asian Community Development Council, a non-partisan group working to improve voter participation. She says voter registration in this demographic has been low, especially among immigrants.
“They kind of stay away from politics; a lot of it has to do with the culture, depending on what country them came from,” Kleven explains. “A lot of countries their voice doesn’t make any difference, there’s no voting and even if they do, it’s somewhat corrupted, and so there is that distrust and they take that with them when they come to the United States.”
The AAPI electorate reached nearly six million last year. But nationally, less than 60 percent of those eligible are registered to vote, lagging behind other groups like Latinos and African-Americans.
