Hội Thảo Bầu cử: Vietnamese language election workshop report

Community feedback and review are integral to our process as a community-centered design organization. These sessions provided a rich opportunity to learn more about voter experiences and test the usability of current voter material.

Here are some highlights of what we learned:

Voters report positive experiences at polling locations when they have language support.
The people we spoke to had very positive experiences at their polling location because they had Vietnamese language support. All of the participants we spoke with voted in the same polling location even though they could have voted anywhere. We also found that voters who lived closer to this polling location were more likely to be exposed to voter-related information.

Community organizations plays a significant role in voter turnout
Boat People SOS (BPSOS) filled essential gaps in the voter information and access journey, especially for seniors. The organization participates in voter registration and canvases voters in predominantly Vietnamese neighborhoods.

Participants wanted illustrations and simplified text
All focus group participants found the checklist and image of the ballot easier to understand than the written instructions from the Tarrant County website.

The workshop was led by CCD researcher Asher Kolieboi.

Session structure

The two-hour focus group session was divided into two parts. The first was a facilitated discussion about the voter experience and participants discussed their experiences and feelings about voting. 

In the second part of the session, participants reviewed Vietnamese language vote by mail materials and were asked to return the envelope based on a set of instructions provided either by the Center for Civic Design or the Tarrant County Elections website. 

Participant information

The focus group’s 10 participants were recruited through the Senior Group at BPSOS. They ranged in age from 53 to 88 years old. Of the 10 participants, 3 were men, and 7 were women. Most participants lived in Harris county; however, 1 participant lived in neighboring Fort Bend County. Two were not registered to vote or were unsure if they were registered. One person was not registered because she is not a naturalized citizen. Of the 7 participants with voting experience, two had cast their ballot by mail and last voted by mail in 2020 and 2021 respectively.