On Monday, the Department of Elections Issued Voter Registration Forms for non-citizens who are eligible to vote for members of the San Francisco Board of Education in the November 6th 2018 election. The measure passed in 2016 with a close vote of 54 percent to 46 percent following two failed previous attempts.
San Francisco is the first city in the state to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.
Not everyone agrees. Harmeet Dhillon is the Republican National Committeewoman from California. She says she voted against the measure in 2016.
“The reason I voted against it is that I think the right to vote is something that goes along with citizenship and should be,” said Dhillon.
Dhillon says the school board is already obligated to look out for the interests of all children in the system.
“I don’t think that people who have otherwise tenuous ties to San Francisco given their lack of legal residence should be making long term decisions about that structure and process,” said Dhillon.
