Report: number of Asian voters in Minnesota has more than doubled

The Hmong American Partnership hosts a town hall tonight on Asian-American voting trends in the Midwest. Organizers hope to base the conversation on a newly released report from the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.

Citing US Census data, the report says the number of Asian American voters grew by 169 percent from 2000 to 2008. The largest increase in minority voters was among Latinos -- there was a 333 percent increase in Minnesota over those eight years. In the same time period, the number of African American voters increased by 69 percent; white voters went up by 4 percent; and the overall number of registered voters increased by 9 percent.

Also from the report:

A majority of Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Asian American immigrants in the Twin Cities are citizens (61 percent and 57 percent, respectively), the highest rates among racial groups. Approximately 77 percent of Vietnamese, 75 percent of Korean, 72 percent of Laotian, and 69 percent of Cambodian American immigrants were citizens, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Surveys from 2006-2010.

About 22,000 Asian immigrants who came to the United States between 1985 and 2005 are eligible to become citizens in Minnesota; the largest numbers are from Thailand, South Korea, Laos, and China. Over 96 percent of these residents are also of voting age.

The town hall runs until 8 p.m. at 1075 Arcade St. in St Paul.

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