A Vote for Involvement

After two months and the distribution of 18,000 voter registration kits, a drive to increase the political power of the Southern California’s Vietnamese American community ended Sunday with a final push to register voters during a free concert celebration at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center.

Featuring nearly 150 entertainers, the daylong event, dubbed Rock-N-Vote, drew about 4,500 people--from senior citizens to small children--with a blend of traditional Vietnamese music and old-time rock ‘n’ roll.

Seventeen-year-old Khiem Nguyen is not yet old enough to vote. But as president of the Vietnamese Club at Western High School in Anaheim, she said the campaign could be an important factor in shaping her community’s future.

“We are the future of America. We should know what’s going on because that will help us make better decisions,” she said, excitedly guarding the stage entrance as some of her favorite Vietnamese recording artists performed.

Khiem’s responsibilities gave her one of the best seats in the house, and she was thrilled to see performers such as singer Lynda Trangdai up close. Even as she worked, the teenager kept a camera in her lap to capture performers as they passed.

The campaign, centered in Little Saigon and heavily promoted in the Vietnamese-language media, began in late August with the distribution of voter registration papers at local businesses. Daniel Do-Chanh, a Garden Grove attorney and one of the key organizers of the drive, said that an additional 3,000 voter registration packets were handed out at the show and that 1,000 completed forms were turned in on the spot. But, Do-Chanh said, Sunday’s focus was not really on numbers. “Our main goal was to get people to think about registering and voting,” he said.

Orange County’s Vietnamese American community is the largest in the country, with an estimated 200,000 Vietnamese immigrants. While about half are citizens, organizers said, only 35,000 are registered to vote.

Tran Nguyen of Irvine, a local activist who left Vietnam for the United States 30 years ago, said he feels that until now, Vietnamese organizations have not been taken seriously. The drive was important, Nguyen said, “because without an organized voting block, the needs of the Vietnamese community might not be served properly.”

Nguyen said he hopes that bringing more Vietnamese Americans into the political process will give his community the leverage it needs to incorporate the needs of Vietnamese Americans into mainstream politics.

Indeed, the event did draw attention from several local politicians. Officials including Assemblyman Ken Maddox (R-Buena Park), state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), and U.S. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) were on hand to court the newest voters.

Volunteer Khoi Le, a sophomore at UC Irvine, said the event would help bring the Vietnamese community in Orange County together. “People were saying that we weren’t going to get anything done by yelling and screaming, but this concert does show that we came out to register to vote, that we are going to do something and that we are committed to voting.”

Tommy Cao, 19, of Huntington Beach, said he came to the festival with family and friends on Sunday to enjoy the music, meet girls and show his support for the Vietnamese community. Born and reared in the United States, Cao said he registered to vote a week ago in Westminster because of the campaign. “To be a good citizen requires voting and community service,” Cao said.