San Francisco will allow immigrants to vote in local elections

San Francisco will become the largest city in the United States and one of the few in the country that will allow non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in local elections in November.

Фото: Depositphotos

They will be allowed to vote only in school board elections, but fear that information about their immigration status may reach federal officials among many illegal immigrants is stronger than a desire to have a say in their children's education, writes NBC.

According to the San Francisco electoral department, only 35 non-citizens in the city are registered to vote. The pre-registration period has already expired, but the state also allows people to register and vote on election day.

In 2016, California residents approved a law allowing parents or guardians of a child in San Francisco schools to participate in the election of representatives to school boards, regardless of their immigration status.

In order to vote, non-citizens must indicate their address and date of birth. They cannot vote in federal or state elections.

The Chinese American Voters Education Committee is conducting voter registration campaigns on college campuses, in low-income areas and at festivals, but to date, volunteers have not registered a single non-citizen, including holders of green cards.

This is due to the fact that people are scared by the actions of the administration of President Donald Trump and are afraid of being deposited simply because of the desire to vote.

The city election commission also warned potential voters that information about registered voters would be public and could be seen by representatives of the immigration or other federal immigration services.

San Francisco is a "sanctuary city" that limits local government cooperation with federal immigration officials, but local officials cannot hide voter information.

Allowing immigrants to vote is designed to give them more influence on the school board, which approves the curriculum, hires staff, and manages the annual budget of schools.

San Francisco school districts do not collect data on the immigration status of parents or children, but 29% of 54 000 students in local schools called Chinese or Spanish their first language, suggesting that they were most likely born in immigrant families. The government estimates that at least 40 000 residents of San Francisco are illegal immigrants.

San Francisco is not the first city to allow non-citizens to vote. In Maryland, where an estimated 15% of residents are immigrants, at least six cities allow noncitizens to vote in local elections.

These measures came into force back in the 1980-ies, but still sometimes face criticism and attempts to challenge them.

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