Community volunteers will monitor more than 200 polling sites throughout the Bay Area today to ensure that Asian American voters have full and equal access to ballots.

Filipino Advocates for Justice, a social services organization with offices in Union City and Oakland, will monitor polling stations in Union City by deploying a dozen volunteers to check the availability of translate materials and oral assistance.

"The issue is to prevent voters from being discriminated against and turned away, and it's usually people of color and immigrants of color who have these problems," said Christopher Cara, youth services director with Filipino Advocates for Justice.

The Election Day effort is a partnership between Bay Area-based legal and civil rights organizations Asian Law Caucus and Asian Law Alliance, along with host community organizations in Alameda, San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties.

According to the Asian Law Caucus, there are thousands of Asian Americans who are registered to vote in the Bay Area but are Limited English Proficient and require language assistance in voting.

Under Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act, Chinese voters in Alameda, San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties are entitled to language assistance, along with Vietnamese and Filipino voters in Santa Clara.

These target groups are based on population and number of Limited English Proficient voters, said Richard Konda, executive director of the Asian Law Alliance.

Also aiding in this voter protection effort in Alameda County are Citizens for a Better Community in Fremont and Family Bridges in Oakland.

Poll monitors will ensure individuals aren't being improperly turned away or unnecessarily required to produce a form of identification. They will record their observations of each site and report any problems to county election officials, the Asian Law Alliance and Asian Law Caucus.

"We just want to make sure that everything is running according to plan," said Titi Liu, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, in a press release. "Most voters, let alone new voters, are unaware of what their rights are."