Transformative Nature of the Voting Rights Act for the Asian American Community: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Section 203
By Terry Ao Minnis, Vice President of Census and Voting Programs at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
As we commemorate the 60th of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) this year, we must also take time to acknowledge and celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the key VRA provisions: Section 203. Section 203 was enacted during the 1975 reauthorization of the VRA and has been instrumental to the engagement of the Asian American community electorally and politically. This celebration is extra personal for me. The reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act was the first major campaign I worked on at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. As a budding, recently graduated civil rights attorney, I was given the momentous task of reauthorizing the Act before it was scheduled to sunset in 2007 and ensure the continued existence of Section 203.
The reauthorization of both Sections 5 and 203 in the 2000s was a top priority for Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC because of the transformative nature of the legislation for the Asian American community. Section 203 became particularly pertinent for Asian Americans after its 1992 reauthorization. At that time, due in large part to advocacy by Asian Americans leaders, the 10,000 numeric threshold was added to help address the significant numbers of limited-English proficient (LEP) Asian American voters. Because Asian Americans overwhelmingly resided in dense, metropolitan cities and areas at that time, it was difficult for any single Asian language group to get covered by Section 203 under the percentage threshold from 1975 to 1992. For example, based on 1990 census data, there were almost 40,000 LEP Asian American voters in Los Angeles County, California and in Honolulu County, Hawaii as well as thousands of LEP Asian American citizens living in San Francisco County, California, Queens County, Kings County, and New York County in New York. But only San Francisco County would have been eligible for Section 203 coverage under the five percent trigger at that time.
Adding the numeric threshold in 1992 expanded Section 203 coverage of Asian languages exponentially. The following 2002 Section 203 determinations resulted in the coverage of 16 counties/political subdivision equivalents in seven states for Asian languages, representing 27 Asian American communities. The most recent Section 203 determinations in 2021 resulted in 53 Asian American populations covered, located in 32 counties, boroughs, census areas or cities, including nine new Asian American populations that have been added to Section 203 coverage since the last list was released in 2016. This represents jurisdictions within 14 states covered for at least one Asian language groups, including two additional states — Minnesota and Pennsylvania — with coverage for the Hmong language for the first time in Minnesota.
Section 203, when properly implemented, has been a boon to increasing civic engagement of Asian American voters and candidates. Between 1996 and 2004, Asian Americans had the highest increase of new voter registration at a little over 58%. Successful enforcement actions by the Department of Justice resulted in increased voter registration and turnout. San Diego County, California saw an increase in voter registration among Filipinos by over 20 percent and Vietnamese by 40 percent. In Harris County, Texas, where turnout among Vietnamese eligible voters doubled following DOJ’s efforts. That same year, Harris County elected the first Vietnamese American to the Texas state legislature after the county began fully complying with Section 203. Additionally, Section 203 has also led to an increase in the number of Asian American elected officials in federal, state, and local offices, which rose sharply since the enactment of Section 203. For example, a study done around the time of the reauthorization efforts showed that 75% of Asian American elected officials were elected in jurisdictions covered by Section 203 of the VRA. Specifically, the study found that 65% of Asian American officials in the state legislatures, 79% in city councils, and 84% serving on school boards were elected from covered jurisdictions.
It has been a privilege for me to have worked on Section 203 for over two decades. I take pride in being part of the substantive efforts to reauthorize, enforce, and protect Section 203 of the VRA over the years, and I have been fortunate to learn from and work with amazing civil rights leaders and dedicated and wickedly smart coalition partners. The 2006 reauthorization was a coalitional success — from the civil rights groups themselves to those in Congress. We were able to reauthorize the VRA with a vote of 98–0 in the Senate and 390–33 in the House by working together, sticking together, and staying on message and on task with one another throughout the process, including during direct attacks to Section 203 during the reauthorization process. During these trying times and new attacks on the VRA, we will need to continue that spirit of collaboration, trust, and accountability in order to ensure that the Voting Rights Act, including Section 203, continues to protect and advance the voting rights of Asian Americans and other communities of color for decades to come.
