AALDEF Internship Opportunity

WINTER 2005 & SPRING 2006 INTERNSHIPS
DEFENDING ASIAN AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS
for Undergraduate, Graduate, and Law Students

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, advocacy, and community education. Spring and Winter internships are available for college, graduate, and law students in AALDEF's Voting Rights Program.

In prior elections, Asian Americans faced a series of barriers in exercising their right to vote; for example, ballots have been mistranslated listing Democratic candidates as Republicans and vice versa, lack of interpreters, denial of language assistance, rude and hostile poll workers. Then, when the news media reported on election returns and the vote by specific groups, Asian Americans were overlooked. AALDEF's Voting Rights Program aims to enhance the political participation of Asian Americans and guard against anti-Asian voter discrimination.

Voting Rights Interns work on the following:

* Reviewing election monitoring reports to advocate for election reforms and compliance with the Voting Rights Act and federal Constitution. The Voting Rights Act mandates Chinese and Korean language voting assistance and forbids anti-Asian voter discrimination. This includes legal research and writing, fact pattern development, and working with clients and witnesses for possible litigation.

* Documenting the use of bilingual ballots and reporting on Asian American voting patterns from AALDEF's multilingual survey in New York , New Jersey , and Massachusetts .

* Researching the history of anti-Asian voter discrimination and helping to prepare a report to Congress on the need to reauthorize the expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

* Assess elections compliance with a voting rights settlement reached in Massachusetts , pursuant to U.S. v. City of Boston .

* Registering new voters after citizenship swearing-in ceremonies.

* Conducting research and advocacy on local, state and federal election reform proposals.

Description of Fall Internships:

Supervision: Interns are supervised by attorneys through regular meetings and trainings.

Compensation: These internships are not paid positions, but academic credit can be arranged.

Hours: Interns work anywhere between 12 to 25 hours per week in the office.

Duration: Winter internships are during intersession and Spring internships usually follows the spring semester, commencing with the start of classes (end of January) to the first or second week of May.

To Apply:

Bilingual ability is helpful but not required. Students with language ability in Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin), Korean, Bengali, Urdu, or Punjabi are especially welcome to apply and languages (if any) should be stated in the resume. Applicants should also state the number of hours they can work per week and a possible schedule.

Send a resume and cover letter to:

Voting Rights Fall Intern Search

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)

99 Hudson Street, 12th floor
New York , New York 10013-2815
fax: 212-966-4303

Email: info@aaldef.org

For more information, contact Glenn D. Magpantay at 212-966-5932, ext. 206 or gmagpantay@aaldef.org.