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<br />Sent via email <br />June 18, 2024 <br />Santa Ana Mayor and City Council <br />City Council Chamber <br />22 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br />eComment@santa-ana.org <br />Re: June 18, 2024 City Council Agenda, Closed Session Item No. 1 and Regular <br />Session Item No. 17, Noncitizen Voting Ballot Measure <br /> <br />Dear Mayor Amezcua and Members of the Santa Ana City Council: <br />Chinese for Affirmative Action, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, and the <br />UC Irvine School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic respectfully submit this letter about the City <br />CouncilÓs planned discussions relating to potentially amending the language of the November <br />2024 immigrant voting measure (the ÐMeasureÑ). The City Council has broad discretion over <br />ballot language and is under no obligation to take direction from James V. Lacy, an individual <br />challenging the Measure in court. Mr. Lacy has a history of unsuccessfully opposing efforts to <br />expand the vote to noncitizen residents, including through a failed lawsuit to set aside San <br />FranciscoÓs immigrant voting program and a failed pre-election lawsuit to keep OaklandÓs <br />1 <br />immigrant voting measure off the November 2022 ballot. Because the Measure is clear, <br />informative, and is neither false, misleading, nor partial to one side, the City Council may send <br />the current version of the Measure to county elections officials. <br /> <br />I. The City Council has broad discretion to draft the Measure, and a court must <br />employ a presumption that the measure in neutral. <br /> <br />The City Council has broad discretion to prepare ballot language. Yes on 25, Citizens for <br />an On-Time Budget v. Super. Ct. (ÐYes on 25Ñ), 189 Cal. App. 1445, 1452-53 (2010); Martinez <br />v. Super. Ct., 142 Cal. App. 4th 1245, 1248 (2006). In contrast, courts do not enjoy a wide range <br />of discretion when adjudicating pre-election challenges to the sufficiency of ballot language. <br />Becerra v. Super. Ct., 19 Cal. App. 5th 967, 976 (2017) (citing Yes on 25, 189 Cal. App. 4th at <br />1453). Rather, although a court must independently assess whether ballot language substantially <br /> <br />1 <br /> Lacy v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 94 Cal. App. 5th 238, 243 (2023) (rejecting challenge to San FranciscoÓs <br />immigrant voting program); Bob Egelko, Conservative Group Drops Challenge to S.F., Oakland Laws Allowing <br />Noncitizen Voting in School Board Races, San Francisco Chronicle (Oct. 10, 2023), https://bit.ly/4cuGSTD. <br />FYFDVUJWF!EJSFDUPS Ifdups!P/!Wjmmbhsb <br />DIBJS Tubdz!Ipsui.Ofvcfsu!WJDF!DIBJS Spc!Ifoojh <br />DIBJST!FNFSJUJ Njdifmf!HppexjoNbsmb!Tupof!!Tibsj!Mfjoxboe!!Tufqifo!Spief!!Ebooz!Hpmecfsh!!Bmmbo!L/!Kpobt+!!Cvsu!Mbodbtufs+!!Jswjoh! <br />Mjdiufotufjo-!NE+!!Kbsm!Npio!!Mbvsjf!Ptuspx+!!Tubomfz!L/!Tifjocbvn+! <br />!+efdfbtfe <br />PSBOHF!DPVOUZ!PGGJDF!Θ!876!UIF!DJUZ!ESJWF-!TVJUF!471!Θ PSBOHF-!DB!:3979!Θ!U!825/561/4:73!Θ!G!825/694/9157!Θ!BDMVTPDBM/PSH! <br /> <br />