Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Motivations Vary as African Diaspora Vote in US Election

Salem Solomon

   WASHINGTON - For most African immigrants in the United States, the
   right to vote is precious.

   Ivo Tasong, a Cameroonian American who immigrated to the U.S. in 1986,
   said voting is something he will never take for granted.

   "Being fortunate to migrate and come and live in the United States,
   that civic duty cannot be taken for granted, because we know what our
   families are going through back home," Tasong told VOA. "We have a war
   right now that we've lost many family members and friends. And the
   government's response has not been adequate to call for a peaceful,
   peaceful settlement to the crisis. So here, if we are also complacent,
   then is it a lose-lose situation."

   Tasong is one of an estimated 2.4 million foreign-born Africans in the
   United States, most of whom are eligible to vote, according to U.S.
   census figures. He owns a technology business in Silver Spring,
   Maryland, and is the chairperson of the U.S.-Cameroon Democracy
   Network, a new organization advocating for issues that impact
   Cameroonian Americans.

   Although he is supporting Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden,
   he has been determined to register people of all political beliefs to
   vote in Tuesday's U.S. election.

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