With Support from High-Profile Voting Rights Groups, Voter Participation Act Heads for Tuesday Vote at Board of Supervisors

SAN FRANCISCO — Backed by prominent voting rights groups, including California Common Cause, RepresentUs, and Asian-Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus, Supervisor Dean Preston’s Voter Participation Act goes before the full 11-member Board of Supervisors today.

“Above all else, this is a basic civil rights issue,” Preston said. “San Francisco should be encouraging, rather than restricting, access to voting. And we should have done it years ago.”

Under Preston’s measure, the Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, and Treasurer, who are currently elected in odd years, would be elected during even years, joining the rest of their colleagues locally who are elected during even years. Over the past decade, even-year elections have achieved significantly higher voter turnout than their odd-year counterparts, sometimes doubling the percentage of voters casting their ballots.

“Research shows that in even years, turnout is more diverse and includes more voters who are working class, young, limited English proficient, and racial/ethnic minorities,” said Sietse Goffard, Senior Voting Rights Program Coordinator at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus. “In odd-year elections, these communities often get left out. The Voter Participation Act would be a big step forward in building a more inclusive democracy in San Francisco.”

Preston’s measure, if passed, would have San Francisco join more than 50 other California cities in consolidating elections to encourage voter turnout. In 2021, California Common Cause conducted a study of elections that occurred between 2012-2020 and found that 54 cities that moved their off-cycle elections to even years between 2016-2020 tripled their voter participation in municipal elections.

“Our research makes clear that consolidating elections with statewide elections will help more voters participate in important local elections that impact the well-being of the city,” said Pedro Hernandez, Legal and Policy Director of California Common Cause.

In their support of the measure, RepresentUs noted how unique such an effective policy tool is. “It is rare to find a single change that directly and unambiguously creates an immediate and significant improvement in voter turnout. It is almost impossible to find a single change that causes such drastic increases in turnout while simultaneously saving money. Consolidating local elections to even years is essentially a public policy unicorn,” said David O’Brien, Policy Analyst at RepresentUs.

The Voter Participation Act requires six votes in the affirmative to be sent to the November ballot. The Board of Supervisors meeting starts at 2pm today and can be streamed live at https://url.avanan.click/v2/___www.sfgovtv.org.___.YXAzOnNmZHQyOmE6bzo1YzQyM2I3Y2NiNTI1MWQ2NTY3NDJmNzVlOGI3YWYwODo2OmUzZGM6MTdjODU0MzAwNTZiZjQ0YzQ1YTI4ZGMwZjUyMjVhYjgxOWQwZDUwNDlhYzkwNzNmZGNhMTJkNzY4YTk2Y2E2NDp0OlQ