Santa Ana rejects ballot measure that would have allowed non-US citizens to vote

Santa Ana voters have rejected Measure DD, a ballot measure that would have allowed non-U.S. citizens to vote in city council and mayoral elections. The O.C. Registrar of Voters reported Tuesday that just over 60% of voters rejected the ballot measure.

Had the measure passed, Santa Ana would have become the first city in California to allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in its municipal elections. Voters in cities like San Francisco and Oakland have already passed similar measures, allowing non-citizens to vote in school board elections.

Santa Ana Families for Fair Elections, a coalition that supported the measure, confirmed Tuesday afternoon to LAist that their campaign was conceding.

There are around 80,000 undocumented residents in Santa Ana, according to the most recent census report, 60,000 of which are potential voters.

What’s the reaction been like?

Activist James Lacy, who organized against the ballot measure, described voting as a precious right.

“We will continue to be vigilant in protecting this right at the ballot box and in the courts,” he said, in a statement. “We call on other cities and agencies that have been considering diluting voting rights in the past, such as San Jose, and even the San Diego Unified School District, to take notice of our success in Santa Ana and reject noncitizen voting."

The group that backed the measure, Santa Ana Families for Fair Elections, said they reached tens of thousands of residents during their campaign.

"The movement for voting rights for all will continue to strengthen," they wrote, in a statement released last week.

Political science experts previously told LAist if the measure passed in Santa Ana, other cities with immigrant heavy populations could see it offering a blueprint to follow.

How we got here

City officials first proposed a ballot measure last year, asking residents if they would approve noncitizen voting.

The council majority then asked staff to come back with a revised ballot measure that would do more — amend the city charter to allow noncitizen voting.

The ballot question approved by the Santa Ana City Council was: “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, before the ballot measure could be voted on, Lacy filed a lawsuit challenging the language.

Orange County Superior Court 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.”

The language was biased, according to the judge’s order, because it excluded other categories of voters.