10/24/2026
Dear community,
It is an honor to introduce myself as the new chair of UAC’s board. I started volunteering with UAC during the pandemic and have appreciated getting to help build community where I live and to support events in southern Maine. It has been such a busy few years serving community members behind the scenes, and as a primarily volunteer organization, it has been challenging to keep up with the demands. We look forward to staying in closer touch with social media and to hear what life looks like from your perspectives. We have many exciting plans this upcoming year and look forward to hearing from and meeting many of you in person or virtually—stay tuned!
As Election Day is coming up in ten days (!), several of us are eager to share why we vote (and if you are short on time or attention, please scroll to the bottom for information and resources). As an immigrant to the U.S. when I was just four years old, I didn’t learn much about the voting process or my rights and responsibilities as a voter from my parents. They were busy making sure we had a roof over our heads, food on the table, and a good education. I might have heard from the news on TV but not at the dinner table about Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to Congress just a few years before our arrival. Luckily, I had some great public school teachers, including a second grade teacher who gave us the opportunity to participate in a mock election during the year when Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress, was running to be the Democratic candidate for president.
I didn’t register to vote just after turning eighteen but rather after returning from the Peace Corps. I recall being appalled at the campaign tactics in a presidential election year while I was overseas and gained a new appreciation for the importance of exercising my right to vote. I first registered to vote at a sidewalk voter registration table in my urban neighborhood. I was excited to get to participate in the governing of this beautiful country and its diverse people. Since then, I have continued to vote every election—local, state, and federal—because I care about how our tax dollars get spent, how federal policies might better serve everyone in our communities and especially those with the greatest needs, and how governmental actions impact everyday lives. There was a brief time after our father died in a car accident when I was a kid, my family needed the help of food stamps; as a taxpayer, my husband and I have now paid more annually than some of our highest elected officials. I now understand the relationship between the governing and the governed as one of mutual responsibility. I write to my congressional and state reps and weigh in on local council decisions when I feel particularly strongly about ensuring my not necessarily unique but definitely underrepresented experiences inform policymaking that will affect future generations—particularly when it comes to our relationships with the health of life on this planet, with maintaining peace with other countries (including those of my ancestors), and serving everyone’s safety and wellbeing.
If this is your first time voting, welcome and congratulations on this significant milestone! The organization, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) has this excellent one-page fact sheet with a “before you vote” checklist and a “when you’re voting” what your rights are:https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/2026-09/2026%20Election%20Factsheet.pdf
The State of Maine’s voter information webpage lets you look up your polling place by entering your city or town and street address: https://www.maine.gov/portal/government/edemocracy/voter_lookup.php
If you have voted before and would like more information about how to be better informed before you vote, you can preview who will be on the ballot at the independent and non-partisan Maine Monitor’s voter guide (https://themainemonitor.org/elections/) or via the Portland Press Herald (offered freely as a public service): https://www.pressherald.com/voter-guide/your-ballot/. Most if not all candidates for elected office have a website and/or social media page(s) where you can learn more about them. I think it is probably unnecessary to say that a lot of the ads today that you might be seeing or hearing may not be truthful, accurate, or comprehensive. You can use websites like https://www.factcheck.org/, offered by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, to assess claims you might be seeing, hearing, or reading.
Finally, if you are interested in ensuring your and other voters’ rights are protected, AAJC has prepared fact sheets on voter rights available in thirteen Asian languages. For example, this fact sheet explains Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act if you have a disability or limited English proficiency: https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/publication/section-208-fact-sheet. If you live in a county or jurisdiction required to provide bilingual voting assistance, Section 203 may be of interest: https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/All%20Languages.pdf. Voters with Disabilities (voterswithdisabilities.org) and National Coalition on Accessible Voting (http://NCAVote.org) have additional resources if you or someone you are supporting has a disability.
If you run into any challenges while voting, call one of these election protection hotlines: Asian Pacific Islander American Vote’s Multilingual Voter Hotline: 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683); 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683), which has language assistance in Spanish and ten Asian languages; or the Arab-American Institute’s election protection hotline in English and Arabic: 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287) and an information handout (:https://www.aaiusa.org/2024-election-resources-1/section-208). Many of us identify as multiracial and/or belong to multiracial families. Here is a Black Voters Survival Guide:https://866ourvote.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ElectionProtection_BlackVotersSurvivalGuide_2026.pdf
If you have already voted early or have a plan to vote absentee or in person, thank you for helping to create a country that doesn’t exist yet and will only when we meet the responsibility that comes with our voting and other civil and human rights! I look forward to learn why you vote.
In solidarity,
Bonnie
