Written by:
12/21/2010 1:41 AM 

It's over a week and no announcement of who won the Lao Family election. There is rumors that the candidates are accusing corruption with the election process. The election did not go well and there are raising concerns that Lao Family has not answered or discuss publicly. There are no information on their website as well, Lao Family Website.

Why is it that WE Hmong can't seem to cooridnate an process correctly. This election was in total chaos. At the polling center in Lao Family, I saw many things that could discourage voters and incite corruption. Below is a few list of  concerns.

1. Voting day should have been postponed. It was snowing and there were more than two feet of snow by morning. It was almost impossible to get to the polling location. Since the polling location was at Lao Family Center, it should have been moved to a different date to allow voters to come and vote safely. This puts many of our Hmong voters at harms way and the voting population to a low turnout.
    
2. Registration Process Flawed.
   
   • I like the idea of pre-registration to keep records, but honestly, why? If Lao Family represents all Hmong in Minnesota, our valid drivers license should be good enough. What is the point of registration other than to collect membership drive and what happens to the database once the election is over?
      
   • Many of the registrations, people who filled it out did not complete it fully. There were names that were missing the Minnesota issued ID card or drivers license. Others were unreadable due to the fact that many of our elderly can't write well. If they can't read these registrations, do they call up and follow up with the person or do they discard it?
      
3. Voting registration by Last Name.
   
   • Instead of a "general"registration table, the registration was separated by Last name. Lee's went to one table. Vang went to another table and so on. Knowing Hmong people, if you were Lee, you would vote for the Lee candidate. If you were Vang, you would vote for the Vang candidate. If you walk into the polling center and saw that your line was shorter than the other, it would indicate that the line with the most people would be the winner.
      
4. No Walk-In voting.
   
   • One part of the democratic process is to allow people to vote when they walk in. It has been part of the "American" process. At any primary or general election, you can walk up to the polling location and show proof of residence or have a neighbor vouch for you and you can vote. Here we have created another "Hmong" style voting. You can't vote if you didn't register. Many did not hear about the election until it was too late.
      
5. Registered, but name was not on the list.
   
   • You went through the hassle of filling out the registration form and it doesn't show up on the list. So what happened here? Is there a process to follow up on what happened to these names? Will the finding be published as to why it was lost or missing?
      
   • What was the rate of missing voter registration? If more than 10% was missing, can this election be validated? If not, what happens?

This election should put more focus on our community organizations and people who runs it. Without really understanding how a process works, we faulter at every step and it makes us look unprofessional and disorganize.

Did you vote and what was your experience?

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