Thanks to our advocacy work, KAC worked closely with the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office to plan, review and implement effective changes resulting in all accurate Korean ballots mailed out by October 5, weeks ahead of previous elections for the upcoming November 2020 elections. The worldwide pandemic, racial and political unrest across the country, and economic devastation in our local cities have shown us that now, more than ever, is the time to mobilize Korean American communities in expressing our educational, social, and cultural needs through the power of our votes.
 
We strongly urge our community to raise our voices and get out the vote in three simple ways (1) safest and easiest way to vote is vote-by-mail (2) vote early in person at a Voting Center (3) and vote in person on Election Day, 11/3.

Learn about all 3 voting methods and learn how to track your ballot with our informative video on YouTube:
[한미연합회] 올해 가장 쉬운 투표 방법은 무엇입니까? [Link: https://youtu.be/0UFUY0ADFMo]

Our voices and votes matter, let’s get out the vote for our community! 

The right to vote is the key to democracy and without it, Americans lose their fundamental right to influence our democratic system. As one of the most trusted government agencies, the US Postal Service was established to provide prompt, reliable and universal postal services for the American people including sending vote-by-mail. US Postal Service provides a public service that guarantees postal services to all 330 million Americans unlike third party, for-profit mail services.  The US Postal Service must protect and ensure the safest and most accessible way to vote as millions of American voters working long hours, those with disabilities, and those with pre-existing conditions will solely depend on voting-by-mail to cast their votes. 

However, recent events threaten the US Postal Service’s ability to deliver the anticipated surge of mail-in ballots. Contrary to the recent unsubstantiated claims about high voter fraud claims, there is no credible evidence suggesting that voting-by-mail results in election fraud. On August 21, 2020, US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy confirmed that voting by mail is safe and secure. Extensive research reveals that voter fraud is very rare and KAC condemns repeated, false allegations of fraud that make it harder for millions of eligible voters to participate in elections.  
Among other things, the US Postal Service faces a budget shortfall of 160 billion dollars.  In order for the Postal Service to fulfill its responsibility to deliver American votes safely, the Postal Service must be adequately funded. Securing America’s ability to vote by mail is not a bipartisan issue but a way to protect our fundamental right to vote transcending political lines. 

We stand in full support of non-violent protest﹣exercising the rights of freedom of expression and assembly. KAC calls on the authorities to provide protection for, and to honor the space of, people exercising their right to protest without intimidation and fear. KAC also firmly denounces the incitement of violence, vandalism, theft, and destruction of property, and these actions’ disproportionate and long-lasting impacts on communities of color that could draw attention away from the call for change. 

We must not let our discomfort and fear in this chaotic time distract from the core problem at hand: these protests express the pain suffered by the Black community due to years of systemic racism, injustice, and violence in violation of due process and basic human rights. This is not only a Black issue. Systemic inequities that marginalize minorities in this country oppress us all. Nonetheless, we recognize that the Black community has faced outright and direct racism for several generations. We must also recognize that fighting inequity requires a united front. The Black community’s efforts to effect change through the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s paved the way for securing the rights of all communities of color, including Korean Americans. Today, we must all do our part to actively work together, in interracial solidarity and allyship against systemic racism, violence, and oppression. 

In order to effect lasting change, KAC urges its members to participate in the political process by voting, and by completing the Census. 

To advocate for the most recent victims, we ask you to contact your local representatives and: (1) text “FLOYD” to 55156 for George Floyd; (2) text “ENOUGH” to 55156 for Breonna Taylor; (3) text “JUSTICE” to 55156 for Ahmaud Arbery; and (4) call District Attorney Mike Freeman at (612-348-5550) to demand that ALL of the police officers involved in George Floyd’s killing be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

###

​KAC was joined by the Anderson Munger Family YMCA, Center for the Pacific Asian Family, Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE), Kheir Clinic, Korean American Federation of Los Angeles (KAFLA), Korean American Family Services (KFAM), Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), Korean American National Museum, Korean Resource Center (KRC), and Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC), in issuing the formal joint statement.