By Nicole Davis
The Chin Community of Indiana is making a push this year for more Chin residents to get out and vote.
On Sept. 29, CCI held an event at the Chin Community Center, bringing in the Marion County Election Board and Marion County Voters Registration Office to educate local residents on how to register to vote and walk them through the process of how to vote. The event was aired live on CCI’s Facebook page and translated from English to both Chin and Burmese to reach a broader audience.
“I think this year we expect a surge of Chin voters,” said Peter Thawnghmung, CCI board president. “We have been almost too quiet.”
Thawnghmung estimates that the Indianapolis Chin community have 8 – 10,000 eligible voters.
“Most of our folks have been naturalized in the last 10 years, so the majority of them haven’t voted,” Thawnghmung said. “They’re a little skeptical, uncertain, no confidence to go vote. We’re trying to help them overcome, get them to show up at polling stations this year.”
Once the registration period concludes on Oct. 11, Thawnghmung said they will push the importance of voting and ensuring those who registered will go vote.
“We’d like to get a good 80 – 90% of eligible voters to vote this year,” he said.
