San Francisco has welcomed Kelly Wong, a noncitizen immigrant from Hong Kong, into its Elections Commission – despite her own inability to vote legally in the United States. Wong is now the first noncitizen to serve on the commission, following the city’s decision in 2020 to eliminate the citizenship requirement for city boards, commissions, and advisory bodies.
The ceremony, held at San Francisco City Hall, was presided over by Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin, who praised Wong’s dedication to immigrant rights and voter engagement.
Wong said: “There are always voices inside my head. Like, ‘You can’t do it. You’re not competent. You’re an immigrant. This is not your country.’ That’s not true. If I can do it, you can do it.”
“I’ve seen how language and cultural barriers prevent immigrants with limited English proficiency from fully exercising their right to vote,” Wong remarked.
Drawing from her personal experiences, Wong shared her struggles with navigating unfamiliar voting systems as a foreigner. “Even though I’m fluent in English, I still encounter challenges in navigating a new system, let alone participating in political conversation and activities,” she said.
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4 Responses
So are they right or wong?
Stupid headline and boarder line racist. You can point out the ridiculousness of a non citizen holding a public position without garbage headlines like this.
The United States is a federation, and under the doctrines of states’ rights, California can choose to allow aliens to vote and hold office. The Federal Constitution doesn’t prohibit them from doing so, so that means they are allowed to.
Why exactly shouldn’t she be on the elections commission? What part of her duties do you claim are affected by her not being eligible to vote?
The next step will be for San Francisco and other cities to allow aliens who live and pay taxes there, and are bound by the laws there, to vote in city elections. Why shouldn’t they? What happened to “no taxation without representation”?