Voter registration in San Francisco’s Mission District has climbed by almost 6,000 people in two years, a change of more than 15 percent.
In general, the larger increases in registration are concentrated in the Mission District and the Portola, with another high-increase area along the Mission Street corridor of Bernal Heights.
Interactive map by Adam Long
Citywide, registration went from 440,000 in November 2014 to 513,000 in November of this year – a 16.6 percent increase.
Ronald Hayduk, a professor of political science at San Francisco State University, said the increase is significant but said registration is often higher during presidential elections.
“It is common for voter registration and participation to decline in ‘off’ year elections (non presidential elections) and for it to increase in presidential elections,” he wrote. “So this general trend would be consistent with trends in other jurisdictions.”
When the district lines were redrawn in 2012, registration rose sharply from 36,400 to about 44,500, falling again to 38,620 in 2014.
Though statewide registration is at a record high, the neighborhood and the city both saw proportionally bigger surges in registration than the state.
Statewide, voter registration increased by nine percent in the same time period – from 17.8 million in 2014 to 19.4 million in 2016 – which brings the proportion of eligible voters who have registered to 78 percent.
Of the 53 precincts in District 9, precinct 7901 in the Mission’s northwest corner jumped the most, boasting a 35 percent increase in registration. It now has 1,284 registered voters.
One precinct saw a decrease, but the narrow area it covers between Holladay Avenue and the Bayshore freeway on the eastern edge of the district only had 9 voters in 2014, and registration dropped by one. The second smallest increase in registration was seen in precinct 7939, a residential area around Holly Park.
This year, four candidates are vying for the seat of the termed-out District 9 supervisor, David Campos. This most recent jump in registration is roughly three times the margin by which Campos, one of eight candidates, won his first race for that seat in 2008. He had 9,441 votes, while Mark Sanchez came in second with 7,616 votes, and Eric Quezada polled third with 5,337 votes.
Turnout was at 79 percent, and a total of nearly 29,000 ballots were cast. In 2012, Campos ran largely unopposed and collected 24,000 of just over 25,000 votes cast.