South Asians for America is a left-of-center political advocacy organization that engages in get out the vote (GOTV), community advocacy, and issue-oriented messaging targeted at South Asian communities to elect Democratic Party candidates to office.

Background

South Asians for America was formed in May 2021 through a merger of an earlier version of South Asians for America and South Asians for Biden. ¹ The merger was motivated by a strong interest in activating Democratic Party-aligned voters after the results of the 2020 presidential election and the 2021 Georgia special Senate election. ²

Voter Organizing

South Asians for America targets individuals with phone banks and engages in Democratic Party-aligned GOTV in states with high concentrations of individuals of South Asian origin, including California, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. ³

South Asians for America’s community organizing and GOTV efforts are supported by left-of-center organizations focused on registering Democratic Party-aligned voters. Organizations that have supported South Asians for America include VoteRiders, All In Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Democratic Party), Vote Save America, Field Team Six, the California Democratic Party, and Democracy Labs. ⁴

Support from Elected Officials

South Asians for America is supported by Democratic Party politicians with South Asian heritage. The advisory council for South Asians for America includes U.S. Reps.  Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Attorney General of Wisconsin Josh Kaul (D); and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval (D). ⁵

Voter-ID and Mail Ballot Guides

South Asians for America, in partnership with VoteRiders, a Democratic Party-aligned organization that produces brochures with information on how to comply with various state Voter-ID and mail-in ballot laws, ⁶ has translated VoteRiders brochures into South Asian languages. ⁷

South Asians for America has translated brochures targeting Voter-ID and mail-in ballot laws for Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin from English into Bangla, Hindi, Nepali, and Punjabi. ⁸

Leadership

Neha Dewan is the national director of South Asians for America. ⁹ Prior to South Asians for America merging with South Asians for Biden, Dewan was the national director of that organization. ¹⁰ Prior to leading that organization, Dewan was then-New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s general counsel for the Office of Appointments. ¹¹ In 2016, Dewan was the national level co-chair of South Asians for Hillary and a member of the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Leadership Council. ¹²

1. “Homepage” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org
2. “Homepage” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org
3. “Voter Education & Outreach Resources” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org/resources
4. “Partners” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org/partners
5. “Advisory Council” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org/advisory-council
6. “Our Mission” VoteRiders. https://www.voteriders.org/mission/
7. “Voter Resources” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org/resources
8. “Voter Resources” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org/resources
9. “Neha Dewan” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org/about-us
10. “Neha Dewan” South Asians for America. https://www.saforamerica.org/about-us
11. “Neha Dewan” South Asians for Biden. https://www.southasiansforbiden.org/national-team
12. “Neha Dewan” South Asians for Biden. https://www.southasiansforbiden.org/national-team