According to data released by the AAPI Victory Fund last month, voter turnout among AAPI citizens shot up nearly 46% in 2020 compared to 2016. 

This data, compiled by Targetsmart, showed that there was a 45.8% increase in AAPI voter turnout. Overall voter turnout rose in just 11.9% in 2020 compared with 2016.

AAPI turnout had the most dramatic change in South Dakota, where it was boosted by nearly 120%. But the rise in turnout was also significant in a number of key swing states, like Georgia.

The number of Asian American Pacific Islander voters in Georgia grew by more than 80% and AAPI voter turnout saw an increase of 60% in Nevada. 

In another mark of enthusiasm among the voting bloc, in the 48 states with vote history available, roughly half of the AAPI voters who cast ballots in 2020 did not vote in 2016, and 23% of them voted for the first time. 

Varun Nikore, president of the AAPI Victory Fund, told McClatchy that an increase like this is rare and that it “does not happen very often in one’s lifetime.”

“I don’t think there’s much recognition nationally in many progressive spaces how we delivered this election to Joe Biden and the Democrats,” Nikore said. 

Though AAPI voters only comprise about 4% of the electors, they are becoming a crucial part of the Democratic coalition, as they continue to grow. 

Asian-Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S., according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. 

Biden won approximately 67% of the AAPI vote in 2020, according to analytics by Catalist, similar to the share that Clinton and Barack Obama captured in the previous two elections. 

Polling revealed that not only was Georgia’s Asian-American electorate very active during this past election cycle, but its first-time voters made a noteworthy impact. The state’s 7th Congressional District, an area that has historically voted Republican, swung to blue in part because of AAPI first-time voters. 

An AAPI Civic Engagement Fund poll conducted on the night before the election, showed that Asian-Americans strongly favored Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux, making up 150% of her winning margin. Two out of five Asian-Americans in the district voted for the first time. 

Some of this growth and power is due to the state’s population increase, but it primarily stems from the strategic and relentless organizing work that people like Stacey Abrams put forth in marginalized communities. 

For instance, Esther Lim, the civic engagement director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Atlanta, made voter information more accessible to immigrant communities by utilizing ethnically-specific social media platforms like WeChat and KakaoTalk. 

The group also translated this information into multiple languages, and pushed out ads in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and South Asian newspapers. 

Linh Nguyen, executive director of RUN AAPI, and previous member of the Georgia Democrats, said that Abrams’ leadership and recognition of the power of the AAPI community really mattered. 

Leaders in the AAPI community are now seeking the same kind of attention and investment that Democratic organizations typically devote to other key demographic groups such as suburban women, Latinos and Black Americans. 

“Few have engaged in a discussion of how to ensure the AAPI turnout surge becomes a sustained level of high voter engagement rather than a single moment in time,” Tom Bonier, the CEO of TargetSmart, recently wrote. 

The AAPI Victory Fund only raised about $1 million in 2020, but officials believe that they could boost turnout among their voters even more given the right resources. The group is now seeking to raise $10 million for the 2024 election cycle. 

The group has also invited the eight Democratic U.S. Senators of color to speak during its two-hour summit on Wednesday, May 19 to foster unity between the Black and Latino coalitions. 

“As much as we’re reaching new heights with our own community, we can’t achieve everything we want to achieve if we’re just doing it as our own community,” Nikore said. 

“Without AAPI voters, we would still be looking at another four years of Donald Trump and no Democratic senate. We will now look to harness our growing AAPI power with actions, advocacy, and policies that will completely change the political map as we know it,” she continued. 

AAPI turnout will be crucial for Democrats to maintain as they head into the midterms, given their growing numbers in several swing states.