A Black man casts his vote at the ballot box

VOTER GUIDE

YES ON PROP H

Voter Participation Act

For about 50 years, the City charter has dictated that positions like the Mayor, District Attorney, Sheriff, Treasurer and City Attorney be held during odd-numbered years. (For example, the next Mayoral election is scheduled for November 2023, and the winner will serve a four-year term that ends in 2027). Proposition H would consolidate the elections so that they are all held in even-numbered years. Those are the same years Presidential elections happen—therefore those years tend to see much higher voter turnout. It’s been proven that moving elections to even years increases voter participation. We support Proposition H because we believe in increasing voter accessibility and decreasing opportunities for politicians to spend their time campaigning instead of governing.

The Context

San Franciscans have not only dealt with four elections this year, they’ve also voted in at least one election every year since 1995, with one exception (2017). The more elections there are, the more time our elected officials will spend campaigning, fundraising, and garnering support for their ballot initiatives instead of coming up with innovative solutions to our most pressing problems.

The Money

This measure would save the City an estimated $6.9 million in FY 2023-2024 and up to $9 million in every odd year by eliminating those elections and consolidating them to even-year elections. However, this savings would be lost if a special election is required in an odd year.

Additional Details

Prop H slightly alters how many signatures it takes for citizens to put initiatives on the ballot. Currently, ballot measures can be put before voters if its proponents manage to gather approximately 10,000 signatures—equivalent to five percent of the votes cast for Mayor in the previous Mayoral election, as is required by the current law.

Prop H would change the number of signatures required to put a ballot measure before voters to two percent of all registered voters (approximately 9,939 signatures). Not a huge change, but a change nonetheless.

Support & Opposition

This measure is a charter amendment proposal primarily sponsored by Supervisor Dean Preston and Aaron Peskin.

Note that if Prop H were to pass, it would extend the terms of multiple City officials who would have been up for reelection in 2023 by one year, including Mayor Breed. However, Breed has said she opposes the measure.

Paid for by TogetherSF Action. Not authorized by any candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate. Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.

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