Judge orders Santa Ana to remove ‘flawed’ language from ballot measure that would allow noncitizens to vote in city elections

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What’s the change? The ballot question approved by the Santa Ana City Council is: “Shall the City of Santa Ana City Charter be amended to allow, by the November 2028 general municipal election, noncitizen City residents, including those who are taxpayers and parents, to vote in all City of Santa Ana municipal elections?”

But Judge Kimberly Knill ruled in June that the original measure’s line mentioning “taxpayers and parents” must be taken out, saying the “language is flawed.” According to the judge’s order, “the inclusion of the words ‘taxpayers and parents’ is not impartial. Instead it reflects partiality, because it excludes other categories of voters who are not taxpayers or parents.”

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The Santa Ana City Council had voted to keep the language regardless, however, Knill on Thursday ordered the phrase be removed from the measure before ballots are printed at the end of August.

Who is behind the lawsuit? James Lacy, president of the nonprofit groups U.S. Justice Foundation and California Public Policy Foundation, and Santa Ana resident Pasquale Talarico filed the lawsuit, arguing the phrase would cast the measure “in a more favorable light by highlighting sympathetic groups of voters who will receive voting rights under the proposal.”

What are city officials saying? The majority of Santa Ana’s city council members support the ballot measure.

“We are going to go forward with our ballot measure, we are going to win our ballot measure with a few words missing,” Councilmember Benjamin Vazquez said at a news conference after Thursday’s ruling.

Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez said the judge’s decision “censored” the identities of some residents in the city.