This election year was one of the most exciting election years that we have had for more than a decade, some said in history. Many people were busy watching or directly participating in the election by phone banking and canvassing. I had the pleasure of speaking to James Yee about what happened on the night of the election in his neck of the woods. Here follows what he shared with me:

“After I arrived back in Olympia, Washington on election day I first celebrated the Obama victory in Thurston County with the Thurston campaign workers at a local night club called The Volt where there was a victory party. I was there at the time the network sent out that Barack Obama was the winner of the 2008 Presidential election. Everyone was cheering and it was a countdown. At the time the polls closed in California, Washington, and Oregon, Barack Obama already had enough delegates which would put him over the top. People knew that Barack Obama would be declared the winner so as it got closer to 8 o’clock Pacific Time while the people were watching the network they started counting down: 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Then they announced that Barack Obama was the winner. For me it was a definite indication that a change from the last eight years was definitely going to occur. People were congratulating one another, because they worked really hard on the campaign.

Sam Song, Ron Oshima, James Yee

After that announcement, I left Olympia for downtown Seattle to the Westin Hotel. One of the reasons I also went is to catch the victory announcement of our governor. We had a very close governor’s race between the Republican candidate Dino Rossi and Democrat incumbent Christine Gregoire. Governor Gregoire declared victory later that evening. I met Sam Song who ran to become a DNC delegate for Obama. He did a lot helping out with the campaign in Washington State. I met Lt. Ehren Watada who refused to deploy to Iraq when ordered to go and the U.S. Army attempted to court marshal him. He believed his orders and the war in Iraq to be illegal. He is somewhat in legal entanglements now. He’s mostly won his case. Out of the five charges against him, two are left to be decided upon. He was cleared on the three major ones. He’s waiting to be released from the military. I have attended his pre-trial hearing and some of the lectures that his father had given around the country trying to raise awareness of Watada’s case.

James Yee and Lt. Ehren Watada

I also met with Ron Oshima who was a Washington State national delegate for Barack Obama. Prior to being an Obama delegate he had been a lifelong Republican. He was forced to go to a Japanese internment camp during World War II by the Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt. So that is what made him become a lifelong Republican. That changed when Barack Obama decided to run for president. Oshima is also a veteran. He joined the army to get out of the internment camp. He did a lot to promote the local Washington group, “Grandparents for Obama.”

The Washington State delegation will now be looking to the inauguration and how we will get tickets to the inauguration, the inaugural ball, and so forth. ”

James Yee also sent me some information from APIA on some statistics of the Asian voter turnout from this past November 4th elections:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Contact: Naomi T. Tacuyan / 202.510.1167 / naomi@apiavote.org
APIAVote Turns out the AAPI Vote in Historic Election with High Turnout

WASHINGTON, DC– Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) participated Tuesday in an election that will go down in history with high turnout rates– especially among minorities, new voters, and young voters. APIAVote partners and coalitions in 14 states turned out thousands of voters yesterday in the efforts to increase civic participation in the fastest growing minority community in the nation.

“APIAVote applauds the work of our partners and coalitions in 14 states, many of whom were in states that helped determine the final electoral count in the presidential race,” said APIAVote Executive Director Vida Benavides. “In states like Ohio, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Nevada, APIAVote partners worked aggressively and strategically to register new voters and engage infrequent voters to turn them out on Election Day.”

“APIAVote’s work on the ground in states like Nevada has significantly boosted AAPI participation. We were in Nevada since the January caucuses, and increased the AAPI turnout rate past their share of the Clark County population. We worked to sustain the excitement, registering new citizens, encouraging early voting, phone banking infrequent AAPI voters, and canvassing Las Vegas neighborhoods with high AAPI populations,” said APIAVote board member Gloria T. Caoile. “While we are waiting for the final numbers to prove this, One APIAVote Nevada is a prime example of increased AAPI voter turnout this election year,” said Caoile.

“Voting is only the beginning of civic engagement; we as a community now face the tasks ahead of working with a new Administration and Congress, and ensuring that AAPI concerns and policy issues are included in the agenda moving forward,” said APIAVote board co-chair Eunsook Lee. “APIAVote also looks to sustaining and strengthening the local and national infrastructure of AAPI civic engagement so that we can build on this momentum.”

National polling shows that among AAPIs, 62% voted for President-elect Barack Obama, and 35% voted for Senator John McCain. APIAVote awaits further details about the AAPI vote, and will provide updates as they are made available.

Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) is a national non-partisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels. APIAVote does not endorse parties or candidates.

Tags: APIA, asian american, Barack Obama, Ehren Watada, internment camp, james yee, japanese, Olympia, Ron Oshima, Sam Song, Seattle, Washington state, World War II