Minorities Asked to the Parties : Politics: Democrats and Republicans have renewed efforts to register Latino and Asian voters, targeting cities such as Santa Ana and Westminster.

Local party activists this weekend are pursuing voting age shoppers at malls, waving signs at passing motorists and manning more than three dozen locations around the county as part of an all-out, last-minute push before Monday’s voter registration deadline.

Hoping that this is the year ethnic minority groups are awakened from their traditional political slumber, Democrats and Republicans alike are undertaking major drives to recruit new voters in the county’s Asian and Latino communities for the Nov. 3 election. Some registration sites are scheduled to stay open until midnight Monday.

“Look at this poor man. He wants to register but he’s not a citizen,” Democratic activist Rueben Martinez said Saturday, pointing to a man standing in front of the “Adelante con Clinton” campaign headquarters in Santa Ana.

Republican and Democratic volunteers said they were experiencing similar problems at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, where they set up voter registration tables in search of citizens who are eligible to vote. Still, business was brisk.

As one Bush supporter, Pomona resident Alan Van Do, 37, filled out his card, he came to a question he could not answer. “Republican? Republican or Democrat?” he asked Republican volunteer Lang Nguyen, 41, of Huntington Beach. “Republican!” she quickly responded.

“A lot of the people know (they want) Bush or Clinton, but they are not familiar with Democrats or Republicans, so we try to help people,” she said.

In crucial Orange County, where an overwhelming Republican voter turnout made the difference in the statewide election victories of President Bush in 1988 and Gov. Pete Wilson in 1990, the hopes of Democrats have been buoyed in recent weeks, in part, by voter registration figures showing their party signing up more new voters than their rivals.

According to figures released by the Orange County registrar of voters, Republicans made up 53.2% of the registered voters, compared to 34.3% for the Democrats as of Sept. 25. But the numbers also showed that since the June primary, the Republican share of the total pool of voters was down 1.5%, while the Democrats’ share rose 0.6%. The proportion of those who “declined to state” party affiliation rose by 0.7%.

“When you are talking about a million voters, that’s a significant change,” Orange County Democratic Party Chairman Howard Adler said recently.

With Clinton and Bush considered to be in a dead heat in Orange County, both parties have renewed their efforts to turn out the vote, including voters in growing minority communities.

Officials for both parties concede that the impact of minority voters is expected to be insignificant in countywide totals, and may influence only one or two local races if many turn out on Election Day.

But with Latinos comprising 23% of the population and Asians and Pacific Islanders comprising 10% of county residents, according to the 1990 census, volunteers are sowing the seeds for what they hope will be greater allegiance to their parties as voting participation increases in years to come.

The task has not been easy, volunteers said recently.

While Latinos make up 20.6% of the voting age population, they are only 8.2% of the registered voters in Orange County. Asians and Pacific Islanders make up 10% of the county’s voting age population, but constitute only 3.8% of its registered voters. The voter registration figures by ethnic group were provided by Pacific Admail, a local direct mail company that handles political advertising.

But Republicans believe their efforts--a six-year minority outreach program that included a candidate recruitment school--are just now coming to fruition in the Asian-American community, where four out of five of those registered are likely to become Republican. Party officials also believe that once registered, 80% of Asian-Americans show up on Election Day.

Of the 11 Asian-Americans appearing on local ballots, nine are believed to be Republicans, party officials said.

In Westminster--home of Orange County’s largest Vietnamese population--two City Council campaigns by Republican Vietnamese-American candidates have spurred voter registration drives, said Dennis Catron, vice chairman of the Orange County Republican Party and the leader of the state’s minority outreach program. One campaign alone, that of candidate Tony Lam, has brought in 2,000 new registered voters in recent weeks, Catron said.

“I think you are going to see some of them definitely get elected,” Catron said of Asian-Americans. “They are no longer looking on themselves as a refugee community. No vote, no voice.”

Another area where Asian and Latino voters could affect the election result, officials from both parties said, is in the 69th state Assembly race. Incumbent Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) is in a tight contest with Republican activist Jo Ellen Allen, who moved to Santa Ana to run in the district.

“If she wins that race, it will be because of the ethnic communities’ involvement, not because of Republican (Party) involvement, because it’s not a Republican district,” said Karen Irvine, minority outreach director for the California Young Republicans.

According to the registrar of voters, 54% of the voters in the 69th Assembly District are Democrats and 37% are Republican.

Democrats also are cognizant of the high stakes in the district race, the only Orange County Assembly seat held by a Democrat. Latino volunteers for the Democratic Party have swarmed the area, registering 15,600 new voters since March--at least 60% of them Latino.

For the first time, they established a party headquarters in Westminster’s Little Saigon, and claim to be cutting into the traditional bastion of Republican support among Asian-Americans.

The Democrats usually have fared better among Orange County Latinos. Republicans have not set up a headquarters in the heart of the Latino community.

Democrats claim that three of every five new Latino voters will join their party. They also say they have 26 Latino candidates on local ballots in November. Republicans believe 18 to 20 of their local candidates are Latinos.

“The question is, once they are registered, will they get out and vote?” said Rene Flores, who has headed the Democratic Party’s voter registration drive in the 69th Assembly District.

The answer to Flores’ question, based on past experience, is “not likely,” according to those familiar with local voting patterns.

Ruben Smith, co-chairman of the nonpartisan Voting Inspires Participation, points to the city of Santa Ana as an example. There, he said, Latinos make up almost two-thirds of the population, but their votes usually account for only one-third of the total cast. He is hopeful that the trend will turn around this year.

“I think people are realizing they have to get involved in the process. Unless they participate, nobody is going to respond to their concerns,” he said.

* WHERE TO REGISTER: Listing of Orange County registration sites. B12

More Independents, Democrats Registering to Vote

Although voters registering as Republicans still outnumber all others combined, their numbers have been growing at the slowest rate since the June primaries:

May 22 Sept. 25 % Increase Republicans 604,791 626,233 3.5 Democrats 373,673 403,029 7.9 Declined to state 100,200 114,745 14.5 American Independent 13,661 17,559 28.5 Libertarian Party 6,483 6,966 7.5 Peace and Freedom 3,331 3,514 5.5 Green Party 2,399 2,899 20.8 Miscellaneous(Bart Simpson, 1,053 1,187 12.7 Mickey Mouse, Beach Party) TOTAL 1,105,591 1,176,132 6.4

Source: Orange County registrar of voters