When you’re a citizen living in a democratic country, you have certain rights and privileges that a non-citizen wouldn’t have. One of them is the right to vote. In turn, citizens who are able to participate in the election process should also be the ones who discuss and determine the rules of voting in their communities.
This all seems fair and sensible, right? San Francisco appears to think otherwise.
For the record, her appointment isn’t illegal in any way, shape, or form.
San Francisco voters approved a measure in 2020 that “removed the citizenship requirement to serve on San Francisco boards, commissions and advisory bodies,” wrote Dahlstrom-Eckman. City officials like the sitting mayor now had the ability to make these types of appointments. Wong received unanimous approval from San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, and reportedly plans to use her unpaid commissioner’s role to increase voter engagement and enhance the proper translation of voter materials.
“Even though I’m fluent in English, I still encounter challenges in navigating a new system, let alone participating in political conversation and activities,” Wong told KQED before her swearing-in ceremony. “I’ve seen how language and cultural barriers prevent immigrants with limited English proficiency from fully exercising their right to vote. Is there a way to do voter outreach that is not just about translation but can touch on political education while maintaining neutrality and impartiality in elections?”
Wong’s compassion and determination to help other immigrants learn more about American voting procedures may very well be genuine. But there were other ways she could have been part of the public discourse as a non-citizen, and, in due course, a citizen.
Instead, the fact that she was appointed to the role of commissioner raises plenty of red flags. Putting a non-citizen on a commission that oversees voting and creates policies for citizens in elections sets a bad precedent for her city—and U.S. politics in general.
This is a prime example of how liberal, Democratic-rich cities like San Francisco, which is located in the (mostly) liberal, Democratic-rich state of California, are going to push the rule boundaries as far as they possibly can.
One easy way for Democrats to build long-lasting ties with non-citizen communities is to eliminate long-standing rules that have prevented them from participating in elections before they became citizens. These regulations weren’t put up as barriers, but rather with the best of intentions. Most immigrants in the U.S. and other western democracies have always historically accepted the fact that there has to be a rite of passage before obtaining citizenship. The immigration process can be difficult and cumbersome, but the reward is access to individual freedoms, liberties, and privileges they may not have experienced in their countries of origin. This includes the right to participate in the election process. If this well-intentioned rule can be done away with at the snap of a partisan politician’s fingers, it hurts the entire American electoral system.
It also opens the door to the possibility of voter fraud in the not-too-distant future. A non-citizen with nefarious intentions could one day join an election commission in any city and attempt to disrupt voting regulations and change election procedures from within. One non-citizen commissioner obviously wouldn’t be able to overrule the majority. The appointment of several non-citizen commissioners in one city could.
Wong may not fit under any of these designations, but her participation as a non-citizen in San Francisco’s elections commission remains an unwise decision. To the multitude of liberal politicians who run her fair city, however, they’re likely quite happy with the way things have turned out.
