SF Board of Supervisors permanently allows non-residents to vote in school board elections

close

Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for November 3

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance on Tuesday making it permanent that certain non-residents can vote in school board elections.

The ordinance passed with no objections during the November 2 board of supervisors meeting.

San Francisco voters initially passed Preposition N in the November 2016 election, but it only allowed non-citizens to vote in school board elections through December 31, 2022.

RNC CHALLENGES VERMONT LEGISLATION GIVING VOTING RIGHTS TO NONCITIZENS

Aerial view of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, CA

The ordinance passed on Tuesday makes that measure permanent and adds that certain non-residents can also vote in recall elections for members of the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education.

In order to be eligible to vote in the school board elections, the voter must be at least 18 and either a parent, legal guardian, or caregiver for a child under the age of 19 who lives within the San Francisco Unified School District. The voter must not be serving time in prison or on parole for a felony conviction.

Currently, according to the board of supervisors, one third of children in San Francisco schools have parents who are immigrants, and 13,000 English Language Learner students who are in the city come from other language communities.

Back view of large group of school kids having a class in elementary school. (iStock)

According to the ordinance, the number of non-citizen voters remains unknown. However, according to the San Francisco Examiner, just 65 non-citizens registered to vote in November 2018, six in November 2019, and 36 in November 2020.

Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies told Fox News that the ordinance is a mistake.

NEW YORK TIMES GUEST ESSAY ARGUES NON-CITIZENS SHOULD HAVE RIGHT TO VOTE

(iStock)

"It is extending the precious right and responsibility of voting, which should be available only to citizens who have pledged their allegiance to the United States of America. It extends that precious right to non-citizens who are here from other countries and it even extends the voting rights to people who are here illegally," Vaughan said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Vaughan also said that the policy devalues the votes of citizens.

"It reduces the value of the votes of citizens who are the ones who should be determining what kind of, who are the ones who should be determining who is going to be on the school board and what the policy should be in the schools and and how the school should be run," Vaughan said.