• by Danielle Oster , September 13, 2024

Among the many things making Kamala Harris’ candidacy historic is the fact that she would become the country’s first Asian American president if elected.

Match Group’s Asian American dating and social app Yuzu has teamed up with Boba Guys and APIAVote to empower young Asian American voters this November. The campaign features a voter registration drive, with an election portal designed specifically for the Asian American community that includes voter registration resources; step-by-step guides for voting in person, by mail, or via absentee ballot; and education tools designed for first-time voters.

The partnership with Boba Guys includes a limited-edition yuzu strawberry lemonade “#YuzuYourVote” drink available across Boba Guys’ locations.  YUZU x APIAVote-branded drink sleeves will bear the message “Yuzu Your Voice! Every Vote Counts,” alongside a QR code linking to the election portal, beginning on National  Voter Registration Day, Sept. 17.

The campaign also includes co-hosted voter registration pop-up events at Boba Guys locations in Las Vegas (Oct. 4), Atlanta (Oct. 11) and Miami (Oct. 19), featuring campaign merch such as Yuzu stickers, and pins.

In a statement, Yuzu head of brand Cindy Lim said the initiative will use “creative, culturally relevant tactics to meet young Asian Americans where they are.”

Yuzu is promoting the voter mobilization campaign through its social media channels, as well as in-app notifications reminding users to register and driving traffic to the election portal, with real-time updates and prompts throughout election season.

“We’re not just sharing information; we’re integrating it into spaces and experiences that resonate with our community,” Lim said, adding “our goal is to provide the tools and resources they truly need to feel informed, empowered, and ready to make a difference in the 2024 elections."

Collaborating with APIAVote, Yuzu also conducted a national survey of app users in August, which provided insights to inform the campaign. Seventy-four percent of respondents said they plan to vote in the upcoming elections, with 14% saying they weren’t sure if they were going to participate. Thirty-two percent said they typically vote in person on election day, while nearly 29% favored early voting, and nearly 22% typically vote by mail.

Political ideology was fairly evenly split in the survey. The plurality of respondents (28.2%) described themselves as “moderate.” A comparable number of participants described themselves with various categories on either side of the political spectrum: 26.9% described their political leaning as “progressive/liberal” and 9.4% as “moderate-left,” while 14.5% called themselves “MAGA,” 13.2% conservative, and 7.7% as “moderate-right.”

Economic stability/inflation (45.3%) and housing affordability (37.2%) were cited as the most urgent issues by a considerable margin, followed by immigration policies (23.9%), reproductive rights (23.5%) and healthcare access (22.6%).

The majority of survey respondents (59.9%) were 25-34 years old, with less than 2% 50 years of age or older.