AAPI Turnout Dipped in 2024, Remains Above 2016 Levels

COMMENTARY

AAPI Turnout Dipped in 2024, Remains Above 2016 Levels

By Karthick Ramakrishnan
August 5, 2025

Key points: Asian American and Pacific Islander turnout in the 2024 presidential elections dipped slightly below their record levels set in 2020, while some communities saw dramatic increases and decreases.

What did voter turnout look like for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the 2024 presidential election? And how did it compare to turnout in prior presidential elections? Our analysis of data from the U.S. Current Population Survey reveals that Asian American and Pacific Islander voter turnout (at 58% and 54%, respectively) was higher than turnout among Latinos (51%) and lagged behind overall voter turnout (65%) and turnout among White voters (70%) and Black voters (65%).[1] Mirroring overall national trends, AAPI turnout rates were two percentage points lower in 2024 than in 2020. However, when compared to prior elections, Asian American turnout was still 9 points higher than turnout in 2016 and in 2012. Similarly, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) turnout was 13 points higher in 2024 than in 2016.

As in 2020, we also saw significant differences in voter turnout by ethnicity.[2] Indian Americans and Japanese Americans had the highest levels of voter turnout at 70% each, while Vietnamese Americans and Chinese Americans had the lowest levels of voter turnout at 51% and 48%, respectively. Compared to 2020, Filipinos had the biggest increase in voter turnout of 9 percentage points, while Chinese Americans saw the biggest drop in turnout of 7 percentage points. Still, voter turnout for all Asian ethnic groups was higher in 2024 than in 2016.

There were similar dropoffs in turnout by gender, age, and nativity. AAPI women had slightly higher turnout than men (58% and 55%, respectively), but each saw a decline in 3 percentage points from 2020. Turnout among AAPIs ages 18 to 34 continued to lag significantly behind turnout among older groups, and youth turnout saw the biggest percentage drop from 2020, from 56% to 51%. Finally, turnout was significantly higher among naturalized citizens than among the native born, mirroring patterns found in 2020 and in 2016.

[1] Note: The racial categories in our analysis are of Hispanics (who can be of any race), and those who identify as White, Black, Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander who do not also identify as Hispanic. 

[2] The Current Population Survey reports detailed origin for the six largest Asian groups.

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Karthick Ramakrishnan is the founder and executive director of AAPI Data