Finale for Vietnamese Voter Drive

A two-month campaign to register Vietnamese American voters will end Sunday with a rock concert at UC Irvine and with at least 15,000 new voters, organizers said.

Daniel Do-Khanh, an attorney and a leader in the effort to organize the Vietnamese American community, said the registration drive is aimed primarily at urging younger voters to get more involved in the political process.

“We’re the largest community outside of Vietnam, but we don’t have a voice in policy and legislation that affects our lives,” Do-Khanh said. “We can be a powerful political force in the county, if only we can organize.”

The registration drive began in August with volunteers passing out voter registration cards at businesses in Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese commercial center in the United States. It will culminate Sunday at a Rock-N-Vote concert at the Bren Events Center at UCI.

About 5,500 people are expected at the free concert, which will feature about 150 local entertainers, Do-Khanh said. The event will include bands playing traditional Vietnamese music and American rock. All of the performers have donated their time, he said.

The registration drive has been heavily promoted in the Vietnamese language media, but Do-Khanh said it will be several weeks before organizers know how many people have registered.

“But based on the response that we’ve seen, we think it will be very successful,” he said.

The concert, which will begin at 1 p.m., will also be attended by several elected officials, organizers said. The campaign to register Vietnamese American voters is the first of its kind in the United States and was organized by more than 30 community organizations.