Vote for Your Rights

Voters across San Francisco will start to receive their ballots in their mailbox the first week of October. Thankfully, the United States Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s latest attempt at voter suppression. Unfortunately, we can be sure that he will continue to attack our voting rights. That is why we must continue to urge Congress to reaffirm and strengthen the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and to stand up against any attempt to create barriers to voting. And the most important step we must all take to protect our rights is to exercise them and vote.

This year’s general election ballot has a number of initiatives that attempt to chip away at our rights. Proposition 39 would require voters to show identification at the polls or provide proof of identification in mail-in ballots. This is a direct attempt to disenfranchise voters and will disproportionately impact people who do not have a driver’s license, people with disabilities, low-income voters or those who recently moved. This measure cannot be allowed to pass, not in San Francisco and California where voters have consistently voted to reduce barriers to voting.

Additionally, there are two measures, Proposition 41 and 42, funded by the same billionaires who also aim to block Proposition 40, the one time 5% tax to make billionaires pay their fair share. These cynical measures would not only stop the state from collecting a projected $100 billion over the next five years, Prop. 41 would also create new layers of bureaucracy to the state budget, and Prop. 42 would make it harder to advance progressive tax revenue measures to make billionaires pay their fair share in the future. Proposition 40 would create a fund to directly support our healthcare system. At this moment, when healthcare is being cut across the country, we cannot afford to lose this opportunity to fund our healthcare system.

Another state measure, Proposition 43 would increase the threshold to pass citizen-driven tax measures through signature gathering to a two-thirds majority instead of a simple majority of the electorate. If passed, this will limit the ability of citizen-driven tax measures to pass and fund local programming and projects. In San Francisco Proposition D also seeks to increase the number of signatures required for ballot measures to qualify, from 2% to 10%. This will eliminate opportunities for grassroot signature gathering and make it much harder and more expensive for everyday citizens to push local initiatives, resulting in only those with money and means to be able to push any measures on the ballot. If passed, both Prop. 43 and Prop. D would stifle citizens’ rights to initiate measures when we are ignored by politicians or overtly influenced by the ultra-rich.

These threats to our voting rights are direct attacks on our democracy. We must call it out now and make our voices heard at the ballot box in November. To register to vote or check your registration status visit registertovote.ca.gov. You can register to vote online until Oct. 19, you can register to vote in person at your polling place. Please drop your ballot in a ballot box (located across the City, and in front of every public library) or your local precinct by Election Day, Nov. 3. Please vote. It is your right, and when you vote, you are also voting for your rights.

Connie Chan represents District 1 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She can be reached at 415-554-7410 or chanstaff@sfgov.org.