VOTING RIGHTS

Enfranchisement for All

Oakland can lead the country in civil rights by granting non-citizens, people convicted of felonies, and younger residents the right to vote on local issues.

• The US Constitution does not expressly ban non-citizens from voting in state or local elections. Currently, non-citizens in San Francisco are able to vote in school board elections if they are a parent/guardian/legal caregiver of a child under 19 who lives within SFUSD. Oaklanders deserve the same rights of enfranchisement.

• Oakland can increase voting rates and combat suppression by making registration a part of high school curriculum. Californians can already pre-register to vote at age 16. Including this process, along with increasing the civic education our young people receive,

• Flatlands residents initially had zero ballot drop-off boxes within their neighborhoods, and only recently have new boxes been installed. I will fight to increase the number of drop-off boxes in the Flatlands of Oakland to ensure that all registered voters have equal access to their right to vote.

• We can and should lower the voting age to 16. We should make this change now, in time for school board elections, so young people can vote for the education they all have a stake in.

If our democracy is to hold any fairness, any meaning, then it must be accessible to all who live within it.

I promise to be a voice for the disenfranchised, and to work tirelessly to bring the vote to all Oaklanders.