Santa Ana is asking voters to decide whether non-U.S. citizens residing within Santa Ana should be allowed to cast ballots in local municipal elections, including city council and mayoral races.

Official title on the ballot: Measure DD

Understanding Measure DD

If the measure passes, Santa Ana will become the first city in California to allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in its municipal elections. (Voters in San Francisco and Oakland passed measures allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote in school board elections, although Oakland has yet to implement it.)

Santa Ana’s ballot measure comes at a time when Republicans have made noncitizen voting a key issue going into the presidential election on Nov. 5. In Congress, Republicans have passed the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act to require proof of citizenship when voting in federal elections. (The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 already bans non-U.S. citizens from voting in federal as well as some state races.)

The history behind it

In 2022, city leaders in Santa Ana discussed allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote in school board races as well as city council races. However, when San Francisco’s ordinance granting non-citizen parents the right to vote in school board races was challenged in court, Santa Ana’s city council tabled the discussion.

When an appeals court ruled in favor of San Francisco’s ordinance in 2023, Councilmembers Johnathan Hernandez and Benjamin Vazquez (who is also running for mayor on Nov. 5) brought the issue back before the council. They noted that Santa Ana has the largest number of noncitizens in Orange County, around 24% of the city’s population. City staff first proposed a ballot measure that would ask residents whether they supported noncitizen voting. But the council majority asked staff to come back with a revised ballot measure that would go further, amending the city charter to allow noncitizen voting.

In May, specific language on the ballot measure was challenged in court, by critics who called it “unlawfully partisan” because it included references to "taxpayers and parents," which critics said was a bid to cast the measure in a more favorable light. A judge agreed and ordered the language to be reworded on the ballot measure.

Activist James Lacy, who brought the lawsuit against the Santa Ana ballot measure, has previously challenged non-U.S. citizen voting efforts in Oakland and San Francisco.

How it would work

According to an analysis by the Santa Ana City Attorney: If the ballot measure passes, it would mandate that the city council adopt an ordinance that would grant non-U.S. citizens voting rights in all municipal elections — meaning city council elections, mayoral races as well as ballot measures in the city.

A yes vote on the ballot measure would also mean that Santa Ana will have to conduct elections independent of the Orange County Registrar of Voters, according to the analysis.

What people who support it say

Proponents of the measure say non-U.S. citizens in the city contribute towards the city’s economy through the taxes they pay and by working in the city. Non-U.S. citizens, they argue, also raise children and live in the city and should have a say in how the city is run. Supporters include Santa Ana councilmember Benjamin Vazquez, who is running for mayor Nov. 5.

What people who oppose it say

Those opposed to the measure — including Mayor Valerie Amezcua, who is running for reelection Nov. 5 — say the city would be forced to pay to make costly changes in how elections are run in the city and argue that this would take money away from first responder budgets as well as from city services like fixing potholes. They also argue that it would lead to higher water, trash and tax bills as the city looks for funding to conduct elections independent of the Orange County Registrar of Voters if the measure passes.

Potential financial impact

If the measure passes, city staff expect legal challenges to cost at least $500,000. There are no immediate numbers on how much it would cost the city to hold its own municipal elections if the measure passes.

Follow the money

Listen in: Measure DD on AirTalk

Further reading

• Santa Ana may expand voting rights to noncitizens
• Noncitizen voting will be on Santa Ana’s 2024 ballot
• Judge rules city of Santa Ana must revise noncitizen voting measure
• Judge orders Santa Ana to remove ‘flawed’ language from ballot measure that would allow noncitizens to vote in city election

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