Giving More People A Voice in Orange County

Voter turnout in the 2024 election was down, particularly among young people and voters of color. In California, the overall turnout of eligible voters during the general election dropped by nearly 11 percentage points, compared to the 2020 presidential election.  

This is discouraging news for those of us seeking to build an inclusive democracy in which all communities have a voice in government and elections. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story. Across the country, people and organizations were engaged in creative and intentional efforts to make sure young voters and other historically underrepresented communities were educated and informed about the election and motivated to vote.  

One of the bright spots where this was happening was Orange County, California. Over the past two decades, this increasingly diverse county of more than three million residents has gone from a conservative stronghold to a politically divided battleground. During the last election cycle, Orange County drew national attention because it includes four highly contested congressional districts. Tens of millions of dollars were spent on these races as the control of Congress hung in the balance.

Despite all of the television and radio ads, mailers, robocalls, and text messages many voters still aren’t reached by political campaigns and their supporters. In fact, some underrepresented voters—including immigrants, limited English speakers, and young voters—report not being contacted by campaigns at all – especially if they are new or infrequent voters.    

The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund is supporting organizations that want to engage underrepresented voters and ultimately build the voice and power of these communities year-round beyond any single election cycle. Two of these partners are in Orange County, where they demonstrated innovative and powerful ways to mobilize young, Latino, and Asian American voters.  

While overall turnout was down in Orange County as it was in other places, these two campaigns showcase different but complementary approaches to strengthening democracy, and they bring up important lessons for philanthropy and our partners.    

The Orange County Civic Engagement Table: Building Relationships to Build Power  

Jonathan Paik says building power for underrepresented communities comes down to one thing: strengthening relationships. As executive director of the Orange County Civic Engagement Table (OCCET), Paik oversees a collaborative of seven groups that came together in the wake of the 2010 census to strengthen civic participation among Orange County’s growing population of immigrant Latino and Asian American residents.  

After notable early successes in expanding representation for Latino and Asian American residents in local government, the table’s work has evolved to a broader focus on how to build the power of residents to make sure government is paying attention to their priorities and needs.    

Paik refers to this work as “building a responsive democracy.” He says it starts with deep conversations with residents about the issues affecting them and how they can exercise their power. “We are trying to build a community of people who are informed and able to stand up for what they care about,” Paik said. “If we build enough people power, we can change laws and change the livelihoods of the people we represent.”  

While accomplishing those goals will require long-term investment and organizing, OCCET’s outreach is already inspiring more participation. Paik said contact by the partner groups resulted in a three-percentage point increase in voter turnout among the disproportionately low-income voters of color they engaged. In a county where congressional races are decided by razor-thin margins, and where those races go a long way to deciding control of the U.S. House of Representatives, that’s a big deal. Paik said the table partners knocked on over 26,000 doors and made nearly 402,000 phone calls in advance of the election, with more organizers “in the field” than ever before.    

Paik said the partners’ election-focused work is part of its broader campaign to build relationships and solidarity across Latino and Asian American communities in Orange County. “We want to help people see the power of a multiracial, working-class agenda that brings them together across identities,” Paik said. He said the goal is to get to a “place of trust” with community members by combining civic engagement and organizing strategies in ways that break down racial barriers and lift up issues affecting all workers and their families regardless of race.  

“The work of the table is critical right now,” Paik said. “We’re showing the community that we need to be the ones who are speaking up and advocating for our needs.”    

OC Votes Family Style Campaign: Meeting People Where They Are  

At the same time that the partners in the Orange County Civic Engagement Table were engaged in their unprecedented voter outreach efforts in 2024, a separate effort was under way to explore the best messages—and messengers—to help mobilize Orange County’s large population of young AAPI voters. Led by Asian American Futures, VietRISE, and the AAPI Victory Fund, the “OC Votes Family Style” campaign partnered with lifestyle influencers to develop and disseminate election-related Instagram content.    

Together, the partners researched the messages that young AAPI people in the county—more than half of whom are Vietnamese—were receiving about the election online.  They subsequently recruited online influencers popular in the young AAPI community and worked with them to incorporate themes and stories into their content that were designed to encourage voting.

“These influencers were largely Vietnamese and are known for posting about food, parenting, comedy, and more. They had never posted political content but they were interested, and we worked with them for months to make sure our messages could be authentic to their voice and their brand,” said Eunice Kwon, director of programs and partnerships at Asian American Futures.    

Kwon said the success of the campaign can be seen in user engagement numbers associated with the online content it produced. In all, 4.2% of users engaged with the content in some way, compared to a 1% engagement rate for all Instagram content. Among the messages and strategies with the most impact: direct appeals to people’s concerns about the prevalence of fake news; and messages that emphasized how voting builds on a long legacy of Asian Americans working for justice and civil rights for all people.    

Reshma Shamasunder, executive director of Asian American Futures, said the OC Votes Family Style campaign shows the power of experimenting with new strategies for engaging underrepresented communities in elections and politics. Rather than dismissing young voters as apathetic, the campaign took the initiative to engage them in issues they care about.  

“Too many young Asian Americans, like other young people in Orange County and across the country, just do not see a reason to vote,” Shamasunder said. “They are alienated from politics and feel their voice doesn’t matter. So we need to get out there and connect with them and give them an entry point to get engaged.”