“How could the electorate be so united around the presidency and still believe that voting and citizenship are of so little import that we would open up government to people that have not navigated the path to citizenship?”
— Roger Gordon, a son of immigrants and director of local nonprofit Urban Solutions
(From the November 2, 2004 Berkley Journalism Project article, “Immigrant Voting Measure Defeated in San Francisco”)
San Francisco voters today narrowly rejected a ballot proposition that would have allowed non-citizens to vote in local school board elections. Proposition F lost by 51 percent to 49 percent, with the close results reflecting a hard-fought campaign that pitted grassroots activists and the Board of Supervisors against the city’s business community.
“Obviously, this was a new issue, and voters were trying to understand the ramifications,” said David Chiu, an immigration lawyer who coordinated the campaign to pass Proposition F. “We were excited that half the city supported us and we’ll certainly be trying again.”
The measure, which would have granted voting rights to parents of the 17,000 public school students who come from immigrant families, sparked debate about the meaning of citizenship and the role of immigrants in local politics.
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