In Search of the Elusive Minority Vote : Registering Voters is One Thing; Translating It Into Balloting Is Quite Another

Last week’s voter registration deadline brought renewed attention to the energetic recruitment efforts made by political parties to mine the potential of greater minority support. Political experts combed even fractional changes in registration for various ethnic groups as if they were tea leaves.

For one contest, the 69th state Assembly district race, Latino Democratic volunteers swarmed the area and established a party headquarters in Westminster’s Little Saigon, usually a bastion of support for Republicans among Asian-Americans. Republican candidacies of Vietnamese-Americans in Westminster City Council races led to voter registration drives by the Orange County Republican Party.

Despite such local hot spots of activity, the larger picture still suggests that minority recruitment efforts have yet to really transform the county’s electoral politics. But whether that will one day happen is a prospect to consider seriously.

For now, while Latinos make up 20.6% of the voting-age population, they constitute only 8.2% of the registered voters. And Asians and Pacific Islanders make up 10% of the county’s voting-age population but are only 3.8% of registered voters.

Moreover, the gesture of registration does not always translate into the behavior of voting, further diluting the impact of minority electoral strength in Orange County. Ruben Smith, co-chairman of the nonpartisan group Voting Inspires Participation, notes that while Latinos make up almost two-thirds of Santa Ana’s population, the record shows that Latino votes usually account for only one-third of all votes cast.

Yet, the long-term prospect of turning Latinos into voters still quickens the pulses of political leaders, and justifiably so.

Although the 1992 election is only weeks away, the real effort is for the long haul. For example, Republicans are proud of a six-year minority outreach program that has brought four of five of Asian-Americans registered in the county into the Republican ranks. And now, three members of the county’s Vietnamese community are on the ballot, the two running for the City Council in Westminster and one other in Santa Ana. These are the first Vietnamese to seek public office in Orange County.

Sooner or later, such races will hasten the participation of more minorities in politics. This year, the impact may not make a difference on a countywide level, but this season’s activity marks a transition of sorts in county electoral politics.