Council District 19 & 20 – Voter Statistics
by admin1
Posted on March 12, 2009
Over the last eight years (2000-2008), the Korean American voting populace has been growing by leaps and bounds, especially within the Council Districts 19 & 20 in Flushing.
By 2008, there were more than 3,000 registered Korean American voters in District 19 and more than 5,000 registered Korean American Voters in District 20. Although this is approximately one half and one third of the Chinese voting population, respectively in each district, Korean Americans, as a whole, have made great strides in building a stronger more unified voting bloc as shown in the vast increase in voter participation over the last 10 years. Please refer to the following graph.
Flushing, and New York in general, being a predominantly Democratic area, naturally has a large constituency registered with the Democratic party. In District 19, more than 50% of the registered Korean Americans were Democrats, and in District 20, more than 66% of the registered Korean Americans were Democrats. In District 19, this meant Korean Americans were almost 10% of the total registered Democrats, and in District 20 almost 5%.
When looking at Korean American voter registration trends over the period of 2000 to 2008, we can see a vast increase in registration from citizens in the Age Group of 20-29 in District 19, especially during 2004 and 2008, which were Presidential Election years. Overall, other Age Groups fluctuated normally with the usual Election Year trends, with a small decrease in registration over time from citizens 30-49. Please refer to the following graph.
In District 20, there is a much more prevalent increase in registration of Korean Americans from citizens in the Age Group of 20-29 over the period of 2000-2008, especially for the 2004 Elections. There was also a steady increase in registration from 18-19 year old citizens through this period. Unfortunately, there was also a steady decrease in registration from 30-49 year old citizens as well. Please refer to the following graph.
There is still much work to do to help secure a definitive niche for Korean Americans through the help of voting rights advocacy, which involves voter registration, the education of voters, and voter participation.
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