Making history is never easy. Proposition G, a ballot measure to extend voting rights to 16- and 17-year olds for municipal elections in San Francisco, earned more than 205,000 votes to finish at 49.2%, just shy of the threshold needed to pass. This is 30,000 more total votes and a higher percentage than this question earned when it appeared on the ballot for the first time in 2016.
While we are disappointed, we are incredibly proud of the hard work that youth leaders and their allies across San Francisco have done to galvanize and energize voters to expand our democracy. Prop G was put on the ballot after extensive advocacy led by high school student leaders, including members of the San Francisco Youth Commission. Our young leaders pounded the virtual pavement speaking at democratic clubs and community groups and earning the support of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mayor London Breed, the entire San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Board of Education along with 50 community, advocacy, civic, and labor union groups in San Francisco.
Amidst a pandemic, we mobilized to strengthen and expand our democracy at the local level. We want to thank our dedicated volunteers who phonebanked every week and distributed signs to our small businesses, the author of Vote16 SF, President Norman Yee and our steering committee which included Generation Citizen, SF Rising, Power CA, Coleman Advocates, Build Affordable Faster CA and the leaders of the San Francisco Youth Commission. We are optimistic about the future of our democracy and the central role young leaders will continue to play to shape it for the better.
Many bold policy ideas take multiple election cycles to build support. We are encouraged by the positive trajectory of Prop G’s results this year, and look forward to exploring avenues to put the measure back on the ballot at a future election.