Santa Ana rejects the measure that would allow non-residents to vote in local races

In the days leading up to last week’s election, signs around Santa Ana showed divisions over whether that would be the case residents who are not citizens should be able to vote in local breeds.

“Strengthen Our Democracy,” read lawn signs, in English and Spanish, in support of Measure DD.

“Defend the rights of citizens,” said opposition banners hanging from fences throughout the city.

Juan Molina cast his vote at the Orange County Registrar of Voters and said that while he has no prejudice against undocumented immigrants, he believes the right to vote should be reserved for citizens.

“It must be an American citizen. We all go through steps to become American citizens,” says Molina (61).

That perspective ultimately won out, with 60% of voters rejecting the measure that would have been the first in Southern California to give voting rights to noncitizens.

Santa Ana — which had more votes for Vice President Kamala Harris than President-elect Donald Trump — is a predominantly Latino community of about 310,000 people. But experts say the votes against Measure DD could indicate that voters, especially Latino voters, are changing their attitudes toward immigration.

“This is more or less consistent with trends we’ve seen in both polling and elections, with the Latino community becoming more conservative on immigration issues,” said Jon Gould, dean of UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology.

It may also reflect how naturalized voters often view citizenship years long and expensive to obtain legal status.

“Nationally, there is a growing awareness that citizenship matters. It is a process that must be respected,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant with expertise in Latino voting trends.

Measure DD also hit the ballot during an election season heavy with anti-immigrant rhetoric, as the Republican Party denounced the Biden-Harris administration for unlawful border crossings. Trump and other Republicans are spreading disinformation about it non-citizens who vote illegally in federal elections to skew the results in favor of Democrats — despite laws and decades of studies disputing claims of voter fraud.

Republicans introduced legislation in Congress this year that would require states to obtain proof of U.S. citizenship when people register to vote. It was not successful, but several Republican Party-controlled states put similar measures on the ballot that won. Voters last week approved measures in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wisconsin to explicitly ban non-citizens from voting in state and local elections.

Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in presidential elections, and those who commit voter fraud could face jail or deportation.

However, federal law allows states to set their own local and state election rules, including allowing noncitizens to vote in limited local elections, such as school board or city council races. And two Northern California cities are among many nationwide where non-residents can already vote in some local elections.

San Francisco passed Proposition N in 2016 to allow this non-citizens with children under the age of 18 to vote in school board elections. Prop N was passed after two other similar measures were defeated in 2004 and 2010.

Oakland also passed a measure in 2022 that would allow non-citizens to vote in school board elections, but the law has not yet gone into effect.

Both measures faced legal challenges from a conservative legal group, which stopped fighting after the 1st District Court of Appeals ruled last August that the laws has not violated the California Constitution.

Measure DD would have amended Santa Ana’s city charter to allow noncitizens to vote in the November 2028 general municipal election for city council positions.

The measure faced strong opposition from local officials and conservative groups such as the Policy Issues Institute, who argued it would be expensive, litigious and violate citizens’ rights.

Carlos Perea, an immigrant rights advocate who supported the measure, said these groups were “pushing the panic button.” The results, Perea added, reflect Trump’s influence in a year when the former president campaigned heavily against illegal immigration.

“In the background, we saw a growing anti-immigrant, nativist and fascist rhetoric emerging in the country,” said Perea, executive director of the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice.

The campaign for the measure, which defined noncitizens as undocumented taxpayers and green card holders, said it would allow for fairer elections, evoking the age-old slogan “no tax without representation.”

Perea said he was proud of the work he and other activists, including Latino and Vietnamese advocacy groups, worked together to put the measure on the ballot. He noted that they would continue to try to pass the measure in future elections — pointing to San Francisco’s Prop N as an example.

“We are ready to reintroduce this in the near future,” Perea said.