WASHINGTON — Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) partners and affiliates have announced Oct. 4 as National Day of Action for Voter Registration.

Oct. 4 is the last Saturday before the Oct. 6 registration deadline in Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan, and the last day that Nevada voters are allowed to register without being present at the registrar’s office. In California, the deadline to register for the Nov. 4 election is Oct. 20.

APIAVote community organizations are working around the clock to register almost 7 million eligible Asian American Pacific Islander voters.

“For these five states, we really are down to the wire. Data shows that AAPI voters are still largely undecided about their presidential pick, making APIAVote’s nonpartisan efforts all the more crucial in increasing electoral participation this cycle,” said Vida Benavides, APIAVote executive director.

“AAPIs are uniquely affected by many of the overarching issues the nation faces today, including the economic crisis, access to affordable health care, affordability of higher education, and the foreclosure crisis.

“The AAPI population is projected to increase to 8 percent of the U.S. population by 2030 — for our voices to be heard and for us to be included in policymaking, we must be at the voting booth.” said Benavides.

“APIAVote partners want to ensure that all eligible AAPI voters are aware of their registration deadlines, so this Day of Action ... will consist of nationwide registration efforts through phone-banking and targeted canvassing, and at ethnic grocery stores, cultural festivals, naturalization ceremonies, and houses of worship,” said Kathleen Topacio Flores, APIAVote national campaign director.

“The AAPI community has been called the ‘new sleeping giant’ of U.S. politics,” said Eunsook Lee, APIAVote board co-chair. “While political campaigns are still questioning how to handle our voters and address our issues, non-profit grassroots organizations have been on the ground, engaging young and old, immigrant and native born AAPIs to participate, addressing our barriers to voting, and ensuring that our voters are informed and educated by Election Day.”

APIAVote’s national partners include organizations representing various Asian ethnic communities, such as the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).

APIAVote is a national non-partisan, non-profit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels. For more information, visit www.apiavote.org.