Board President Alan Wong’s resolution approved as a first step to allow non-citizen students to vote in SF City College Board of Trustees elections

(SAN FRANCISCO) Under the approved resolution, non-citizen students at San Francisco City College might have a chance to participate in voting at future City College Board of Trustees elections.

The non-citizen voting resolution, which was proposed by San Francisco City College Board of Trustees President Alan Wong, was unanimously approved by the Board on April 25. The next step to make it become law is to put the measure on the citywide ballot through the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Current San Francisco local law allows non-citizens, who meet the requirements as parents in the San Francisco Unified School District, to vote in San Francisco’s Board of Education elections.

The latest resolution passed by the City College Board of Trustees was proposed with the same goal to let non-citizen students participate in the political system to elect their own members at the Board of Trustees.

Like the non-citizen voting measure for the San Francisco Board of Education elections, the latest San Francisco City College resolution is on the way to be listed on the ballot for the voters to decide if it would become a city law to allow non-citizen students to vote in all of the City's City College Board of Trustees elections.

Wong said he proposed the policy after a ruling by the First District Court of Appeal determined that the California Constitution does not prohibit the expansion of voting to non-citizens for local elections.

“Allowing non-citizens enrolled in City College classes the opportunity to vote for their college board would give students a voice in their education and how their school is managed. It would get students invested in their education and increase participation and involvement,” said Wong.

53,000 students enroll in the City College of San Francisco. It is estimated that over a third of all City College students were born in a country outside the United States and thousands of them would be eligible to vote in the future elections of the City College Board of Trustees when it becomes law, including students who enroll at the English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.

“Many students at City College are newly arrived immigrants seeking skills and opportunities in a new country and encouraging them to participate in our democracy adds a new dimension to their education,” Wong added.

Presently San Francisco, Oakland, and other local jurisdictions in Illinois, Maryland, New York have implemented laws allowing non-citizens to vote.

The non-citizen voting laws have been created and designed to let non-citizens to vote in specific races like the Board of Education elections in San Francisco. They are not allowed to vote in any other local, state, or federal elections.