November Newsletter
Today is Election Day - assistance available!
Today (November 7) is Election Day!
Poll locations open from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm today for the election. If you are an eligible voter, please vote - make your voice heard!
Here are the topics in this newsletter you do not want to miss:
● Can I Vote?
● Where Can I Vote?
● What/Who Are on the Ballot?
● Asian American Candidates
● Phone Banking to Turn Out Asian American Voters
● AAPI Voter Assistance Hotline Info
Can I Vote?
Check your voter status here. If you are unable to locate your voter registration information but think you are registered to vote, and you have not moved outside of your county of prior registration, you may be eligible to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day at the correct polling place for your current address that may be counted.
Where Can I Vote?
Click here to look up your polling location.
Make sure you are aware of these ID requirements for voting.
Forgot to Mail your Absentee Ballot?
If you were unable to mail that absentee ballot yesterday, you can still make it count by dropping it off at your county board of elections before the close of the polls at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
What/Who Are on the Ballot?
Do your research before heading to the poll, or while you stand in line!
Click the Ballotpedia sample ballot tool to see who/what are on your ballot base on your address.
We want to call out a few items of importance on the ballot below.
Issue 1 - “Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety”
● It is a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot, titled “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.”
● It aims to establish an individual’s right to their own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion, and create legal protections for any person or entity that assists a person with receiving reproductive medical treatment.
● The amendment would also prohibit the state from directly or indirectly burdening, penalizing, or prohibiting abortion before an unborn child is determined to be viable, unless the state demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means.
● Abortions could still be prohibited after fetal viability under the proposed amendment, according to the ballot language. Fetal viability is typically around 24 weeks of gestational age, according to the National Institutes of Health. After that point, abortion could be permitted "if in the professional opinion of the pregnant patient's treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient's life or health," the ballot language says.
References:
What is Ohio Issue 1 on reproductive rights? | WYSO
Ohio Debate Commission: Issue 1 Forum (57-minute debate video)
Issue 2 - “legalize recreational marijuana”
● It's a proposed law to legalize recreational marijuana.
● It'd allow adult-use sale, purchase and possession of cannabis for Ohioans who are 21 and older. Adults could possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, up to 15 grams of marijuana concentrate and grow up to six plants at home.
● It’d also establish the Division of Cannabis Control within the Ohio Department of Commerce to oversee the compliance of the marijuana industry by regulating, investigating and penalizing cannabis operators and facilities.
References:
What is Ohio Issue 2? Things to know before Nov. 7 election on marijuana issue (nbc4i.com)
What is Ohio Issue 2 on marijuana? November election explained | wkyc.com
Ohio State Issues 1 and 2 (ohiosos.gov)
Asian American Candidates
A young Asian American candidate is on the ballot for Dublin City Schools residents. Her name is Diva Sony, who went to Dublin schools and just graduated from The Ohio State University in 2022.
Do you know of any other candidates of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander heritage? Please let us know.
Phone Banking to Turn Out Asian American Voters
The phone banking is under way organized by AACO in partnership with APIAVote. Our volunteers have been calling Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Ohio and encouraging them to vote.
Please consider signing up to volunteer for a couple of hours today in our final push to turn out Ohio AAPI voters.
Voter Assistance Hotline
If you have questions about voting, and/or if you face questions at your poll location that you do not know how to answer, call the Asian American and Pacific Islander Voter Hotline 888-API-VOTE, provides support in eight (8) Asian languages: Bengali, Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Hindi/Urdu, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
Helpful Resources
Ohio Secretary of State website: www.ohiosos.gov.
Information for Ohio voters compiled by APIAVote
APIAVote Voter Guide in Chinese and Korean
A guide to voter rights in Ohio by Columbus Dispatch
You can also email aaco@aacohio.org to receive if you have any questions.
Best,
Ohio Asian American Association (OCAA)
Asian American Coalition of Ohio (AACO)
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