In the past several years, national Democrats and Republicans as well as grassroots organizations have increasingly targeted the Asian American constituency in Orange County in an effort to tip the influence of the growing voter bloc in their favor.

Even still, many of these efforts have been partisan and done largely in English, at times by individuals without deep roots in the community, local leaders say.

That prompted the leaders of the four largest Asian American organizations in Orange County — Korean Community Services, Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance, South Coast Chinese Cultural Center and Southland Integrated Services — to launch the OC Asian American Initiative.

Their goal is to expand accessibility to voting materials in a variety of languages and increase Asian American voter turnout in November.

That may look like in-language text and phone banking, in-language voter registration drives, ethnic social media, working with ethnic media, door-to-door canvassing and in-language mailers in Asian-centric cities, including Garden Grove, Irvine, Westminster, Fullerton and Buena Park, said Ellen Ahn, executive director of Garden Grove-based nonprofit KCS.

The four groups have already been doing voter engagement work, such as canvassing, phone banking and get-out-the-vote campaigns — OCAPICA for several decades now — but Ahn said the partnership will allow them to be more strategic in increasing voter turnout, registration and education across the entire county.

“This is the first time we’re actually coming together and leaning into our strengths and coordinating efforts to make our impact broader and deeper,” she said.

“Our community has been quiet for so long. We want to make noise, and we want to be heard,” said Yulan Chung, executive director of South Coast Chinese Cultural Center. “I hope the community members understand democracy comes from the individuals.”

According to the Pew Research Center, Asian Americans have been the “fastest-growing group of eligible voters in the U.S. over roughly the past two decades and since 2020.”

Among U.S. counties, Orange County has the third-largest Asian American and Pacific Islander population and the second-highest number of eligible AAPI voters in the nation, with the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese populations accounting for the largest share.

During past elections, voters — many of them non-English speakers — came through the doors of these groups, which collectively offer mental health, healthcare, housing, education and other social services assistance, with their ballots and a list of questions.

“They will ask us, ‘I saw this healthcare issue. What does this mean?’” said Mary Anne Foo, CEO and executive director of OCAPICA.

Foo, who has several decades of voter engagement work under her belt, said Asian American voters she’s interacted with have indicated that they want “a stronger voice.”

“We really want our communities to have a voice, and know their power,” she said. “The policymakers work for us, by voting we hold them accountable.”

But to relay their concerns to policymakers, which Foo said ranges from affordable housing to older adult care, and hold them to account when they don’t deliver, there needs to be in-language material that’s accessible so the community is up-to-date on those issues.

“Even though voter materials come in-language, it’s still hard to understand what a proposition is, what a ballot measure is,” said Ahn.

Translated election materials in Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese can be accessed through the Orange County Registrar of Voters, as required under federal law, but in-language material on legislation, ballot measures, candidates’ platforms and debates are sparse to none.

The new, community-led effort is still very much in its infancy, said Ahn, but there is no shortage of ideas being thrown, from funding opportunities and partnerships with national AAPI organizations to the possibility of placing translators at candidate debates and forums, which are often always held in English.

Related Articles

What they will not do is coordinate with any political campaign or party, endorse candidates or take a stance on any issue unless it affects Asian Americans broadly, said Ahn.

“This year we may not be able to do everything, but we hope to build some infrastructure around it in the ensuing years,” she said. “I think Orange County is at that stage. Twenty years ago, there weren’t as many Asians living here. The Asian electorate was not as important.”

The presence of the many Asian candidates on the primary ballot, as well as in the general election, speaks to the heightened importance of the Asian American electorate, said Ahn.

Ahn said she hopes that eventually, the OC Asian American Initiative will be a formal, countywide program.

“We’re really piloting whether what we do works and increases turnout,” said Ahn. “We’re working collectively to measure that because we envision this initiative to last beyond 2024.

“As community-based organizations, we are realizing this is a part, and a parcel, of our work.”