How Will You Encourage SF Residents to Vote?

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It is 43 weeks before the November elections, but already four people have declared as candidates for the District 9 supervisor’s race. Mission Local will be covering the race closely and as part of that effort we are starting 43 Questions, a once-a-week question for the candidates to answer in 100 words or less (they can link to longer proposals).

We’re kicking it off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day because King was instrumental in passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a right to vote that is once again being threatened in the south and elsewhere. Here in San Francisco, however, it is our laziness or apathy that translates into low turnout and engagement. We hope to help remedy that with this column, our coverage, and reminders to vote. If you have recently moved or have not yet registered to vote, here is the page you will need to update your registration or to register for the first time.

If you have questions to ask the candidates, please send them to info@missionlocal.com. Subject line: One Question. 

Question 1

Democracy depends on engagement and voter turnout is notoriously low — in the last supervisor’s race, just 45 percent of the voters came out to the polls. What do you intend to do to encourage more residents to vote?

Hillary Ronen
Chief of Staff for incumbent District 9 Supervisor David Campos

Tuesday voting can be difficult for working families; vote-by-mail and early voting programs increase voter turnout and should be expanded. But more importantly, voters stay home on Election Day when they feel like their vote won’t matter. When they feel like candidates are part of the problem, give the same pat answers, and won’t take action to affect real change. With an affordability and homeless crisis that has been largely ignored by the current Mayoral administration, District 9 voters deserve candidates who have an actual plan to address these issues and the experience to carry out that plan in office.

Joshua Arce
Civil Rights Attorney, Laborers Local 261 Community Liaison

As a longtime resident of District 9, I know many people feel alienated by the political process and have become skeptical of candidates. They hear the promises but often do not see the follow-through.

However, I see voters get excited when they learn of my experience building hundreds of units of affordable housing in the Mission at this very moment. They engage because I have the track record our next Supervisor will need to build the thousands of units we need to bring us out of our affordability crisis.

Reducing cynicism and increasing hope will increase turnout.

Iswari España
Training Officer with the City and County of San Francisco for Human Services Agency

We are reaching out to people who are simply fed up with politics and poor representation by the local administration and City Hall. Therefore, our strategy is to provide a voice, an outlet and a choice. We will share that our campaign is not politically driven; we want to show that we are a break from traditional politics. We want folks to understand that apathy will result in having City Hall and other districts dictating local policy, and that voting is the best way to send a clear and direct message to politicians.

Edwin Lindo

Vice-president of external affairs at the Latino Democratic Club

No answer by press time.

Update: Read Lindo’s response here.