Organizing the South Asian Vote - Transforming Immigrants into Constituents

The right to cast one's vote is the single most powerful endowment a citizen possesses in a democratic society. Legal and political battles have been fought and won by the countless men and women who sacrificed personal fortunes and comfort in order to secure this fundamental right to vote for all future generations. Unfortunately, the immigrant community continues to be a community that is underrepresented at the polls. In order for democracy to truly work, we must make sure we have a society where everyone has equal access to not only rights, and resources, but also the political system.

Desis Vote! is more than a voter registration drive. Desis Vote! is one of SEVA Immigrant Community Advocacy Project's campaigns, committed to promoting the rights, opportunities, and well-being of immigrant communities through self-empowerment. The campaign's work will focus on:

Basic empowerment through voter registration; and

Promoting citizenship and civic participation by involving registered voters in the political system. 

The ultimate goal is to transform the presence of these immigrant communities into a constituent body thereby, converting a "politically invisible immigrant population into one that is taken seriously by local government."