AALDEF Voting Rights Internships

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund

FALL INTERNSHIPS 2007

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.   Fall 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.  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:

• Election monitoring to ensure Asian Americans are treated fairly at the polls and to document violations of the Voting Right Act and federal Constitution.  The Voting Rights Act mandates the availability of Chinese and Korean language assistance and forbids anti-Asian voter discrimination
• Work with pro bono lawyers at corporate law firms and volunteer law students to inspect poll sites for compliance with the Voting Rights Act and Help American Vote Act.   
• Conduct research and advocacy on local, state and federal election reform proposals.  Research the need for and use of bilingual ballots, investigate complaints of voting patterns. 
• Register new voters after citizenship swearing-in ceremonies. 

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, college work-study, or a clinical placement can be arranged. 

Hours: Interns work anywhere between 12 to 25 hours per week in the office. 
Duration: The internship usually follows the semester, commencing with the start of classes or (end of August/ beginning of September) and goes to the first or second week of December. 

To Apply:
Bilingual ability is helpful but not required and languages (if any) should be stated in the resume
Applicants should also state the number of hours they are looking to contribute 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.