Santa Ana’s Measure DD Could Set Precedent for Non-Citizen Voting in California

In a vote that will be closely watched nationally, Santa Ana, the Orange County seat, could become the first city in California to allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in municipal elections.

Voters in the city of about 310,000 will decide on Measure DD when they cast their ballot Nov. 5.

In California, non-US citizens are currently allowed to vote in school elections in San Francisco. Oakland has adopted a similar measure, but has not yet put it into practice. This includes permanent residents, work visa holders, refugees and undocumented immigrants. Allowing non-citizen voting in the United States actually has a long history (more on that soon).

That said, Santa Ana’s decision comes at a time when Republicans have made opposition to non-citizen voting one of their agendas heading into the November election. In Congress, conservatives have advocated for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, even tying it to the government’s spending program. And a short distance away, in Huntington Beach, earlier this year, voters passed a voter ID measure that Gov. Gavin Newsom has since moved to block.

The push to allow non-citizens to vote in Santa Ana is the opposite. If Measure DD passes, political science experts told LAist they could view it as a model for other cities to follow — depending on how it plays out in practice.

History of non-citizen voting in the country

Louis DeSipio, a professor of political science and Chicano/Latino studies at UC Irvine, said that in the late 1800s and early 1900s, about half of the nation’s states allowed non-citizens Americans to vote in national elections.

The states’ motivation, he said, was “to encourage immigrants to choose to live in one state over another, and they felt that the kind of encouragement to move to a state that allowed state voting non-citizens was this opportunity to be able to participate in governance. »

Starting in the 1900s, DeSipio said this trend declined. Reformers called for taking elections out of the hands of politicians and putting them in the hands of nonpartisan agencies, like today’s election commissions.

Fernando Guerra, director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, said the “Red Scare” in the 1940s and 1950s helped prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting, as Senator Joseph McCarthy used fear and intimidation tactics to campaign against the spread of communism.

Yes, non-US citizens may be allowed to vote, in certain cases.

Although federal law explicitly prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, this prohibition does not extend to the local and state levels. Legislation passed in 1996, known as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Accountability Act, includes provisions allowing noncitizens to vote in nonfederal elections if they are “eligible to vote at any time.” other purpose under a state constitution or statute or local ordinance.”

Although still rare, such arrangements are currently being put into practice.

In addition to the measures in place in San Francisco and Oakland, three cities in Vermont allow non-U.S. citizens to vote. Non-US citizens can also vote in some Maryland cities (in Takoma Park which dates back three decades), as well as in Washington DC, where a ballot measure recently passed. These votes are limited to local elections and school races.

Even if he enjoys the right to vote, participation and registrations of non-citizens remain low.

The case for Santa Ana’s opening vote

Current registration data for Orange County shows that about 132,000 of Santa Ana’s 310,000 residents are registered to vote in the upcoming election. About 41 percent of Santa Ana residents were born outside the United States, according to census data.

Laura Pantoja has lived in Santa Ana for 28 years. Panoja, who immigrated from Mexico and is not a U.S. citizen, said she believes that if voters approve Measure DD, “it would be a model to follow for a democratic system where all people are heard.”

“When people listen to us, it gives us a sense of belonging and participation that is very important for building community,” Pantoja said.

Sarai Arpero, also a non-U.S. citizen, has lived in Santa Ana for more than 20 years. During that time, she said she saw representatives come and go on the city council, in various positions of power, and things did not improve.

“Things have gotten a little worse in many areas, health and safety-wise,” she said.

If Measure DD passes, she said, it will “create a balance” in local politics.

“We do not have a social security number to work nor the authorization to work with dignity. But we receive an identification number, the ITIN, every year to file our taxes,” Arpero said.

Having the ability to vote, Arpero said, will allow him to have a say in the city’s housing, safety and economic policies. She said expanding voting rights to non-citizens would mean elected officials would better represent communities instead of being pushed by people with the money to influence elections.

The case against measure DD

Those who oppose the measure — including Mayor Valerie Amezcua — say the city would be forced to pay to make costly changes to the way elections are conducted in the city. Responsibility for running elections in the city currently rests with the Orange County Registrar of Voters. If the measure passes, opponents say, the city would have to hold its own elections.

They say these additional costs would take money away from first responders’ budgets, as well as city services, like pothole repairs.

In May, specific language on the ballot measure was challenged in court by critics who called it “unlawfully partisan” because it included references to “taxpayers and parents,” which critics said was an attempt to cast the measure in a more favorable light. A judge agreed and ordered the language to be reworded on ballot measure.

James Lacy, who filed a lawsuit against the ballot measure in Santa Ana, had previously challenged voting efforts by non-U.S. citizens in Oakland and San Francisco.

Lacy, speaking on LAist’s AirTalk radio show, said he doesn’t live in Santa Ana but is encouraging his friends to vote against the measure because “when you disconnect the citizenship vote , you devalue citizenship and you devalue ambitious quality. of citizenship and belonging.

What’s next

UC Irvine’s DeSipio said that if the Santa Ana measure passes, it could lead to ballot measures in other Southern California cities, particularly those with large immigrant populations from long lasting.

“Where immigrants are connected to the local community and have been involved in the civic life of those communities for a long time, you will see more interest in exploring the non-citizen vote,” he said.

Guerra of Loyola Marymount said other cities will likely take a wait-and-see approach, noting they will want to know how Santa Ana implements the measure. They will also closely monitor possible legal proceedings opposing this measure.

Guerra said there were five key factors other cities would consider:

1. Is this the right thing to do?
2. Will it pass?
3. Will it survive a legal challenge?
4. What will be the cost implemented?
5. Do you want to do this in your jurisdiction?

Editor’s Note: Fernando Guerra is a lifetime trustee of Southern California Public Radio, the parent company of LAist.

Associate producer Gillian Morán Pérez contributed to this report.