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Sent via email October 17, 2023 Santa Ana Mayor and City Council 22 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Q C)IYYIYY i,(t1),f"v In Y Yri Y_G)ll` ; Re: October 17 City Council Meeting, Item No. 27 Support for Ballot Measure on Noncitizen Voting Dear Mayor Amezcua and Members of the City Council: The ACLU Foundation of Southern California respectfully urges the City Council to place a measure on the November 2024 ballot amending the City Charter to expand the electorate to noncitizen residents.' Noncitizen residents are an integral part of the City of Santa Ana: they make up 23.6% of the City's total population and 30% of the voting age population, pay taxes, and are subject to local laws. Although noncitizen residents have a direct stake in the policies the City adopts, they are unable to vote in local elections. Santa Ana has the legal authority and the tools to implement noncitizen voting, and it is thus incumbent on the City Council to take steps to make local elections truly democratic by placing the issue of noncitizen voting on next year's ballot. Santa Ana has the Power to Expand the Electorate This past August, the California First District Court of Appeal in Lacy v. City and County of San Francisco, 94 Cal. App. 5th at 243 (2023), upheld a 2016 amendment to San Francisco's city charter to allow noncitizen caregivers to vote in school board elections, also known as Proposition N. Although Lacy involved school district elections, the Lacy opinion supports in full force the legality of noncitizen voting in mayoral and city council elections. The Court of Appeal in Lacy rejected the challenge to Proposition N for two reasons. Id. First, the Court of Appeal examined Article II, section 2(a) of the California Constitution, which provides that a "United States citizen who is 18 ... may vote," and determined that "neither the plain language of the Constitution nor its history prohibits legislation expanding the electorate to noncitizens." Id. at 243, 245- 49. Second, the Court of Appeal held that charter cities have home rule authority to expand the electorate in school district elections. Id. at 250, 259. In reaching this conclusion, the court observed that Article XI, ' The ACLU supports a measure to amend the charter outright to allow noncitizen voting by November 2026, not the adoption of the draft resolution which includes nonbinding, advisory ballot language. Compare Cal. Elec. Code § 9603(c) with Draft Resolution re Noncitizen Voting Ballot Measure, 11tlp //s umt I. .IIY Y„:21YYYz , ;C�v.t.14DI Y/la�sr al/ vie �?weY?id ,208/3h;.: l� 2,. IEXIlµ t,VliIME II)IIIN II:µ 'Ii IN II-Ic cYlm 0. Villllagpra III SlI Ildc)H:lhdN ruled: VIl llµ CIII IF2alkr II-Ic rilligp III EIMII:µIN lllfll I icYlhcwllcw CaacJwir7 I Sl:ar7cw Slharl II_c iriwarid Stcwtrli7c r7 IRc)IIi Jc Ik army CallcJlbergp A llar7 II krias' IFirurl: II_aricasi r" Ilrvirigp _16[l:cwr7stcwir7, I JaH I II_affle 0sII SlI II Slhelr7lkrarurn' 1313 WWIC::ST IEIICII-IT11-1 STIRI::IC T - SU1IITI: 200 - I1..0S AINGIC II..IC::S, CA 90017 - T 213.077.9500 - If 213.915.0220 - AC11_USOCAIL.012C