San Francisco Appoints First Noncitizen to Serve on Elections Commission | KQED

“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 said in an interview with KQED before Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony.

One of Wong’s priorities is to ensure that voter materials are translated in a way that people can understand – she pointed out, for example, that there isn’t an equivalent term for the word “reparations” in Cantonese or Mandarin.

“I’ve seen how language and cultural barriers prevent immigrants with limited English proficiency from fully exercising their right to vote,” Wong said. “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?”

Since 2022, Wong has done this kind of work as an immigrant rights advocate at Chinese for Affirmative Action, a civil rights group in San Francisco that focuses on the city’s Chinese Community. Since elections commissioners are unpaid, Wong will continue her work as an advocate, helping people like Christina Ouyang, who immigrated here from China 13 years ago.

“Whenever I experience a language barrier or difficulties around access, I can come to Kelly for help,” Ouyang said in Cantonese. (She spoke to KQED through an interpreter.)

Noncitizens aren’t totally barred from voting in San Francisco. In 2016, after multiple attempts in previous years to pass a similar measure, voters approved Proposition N, which allowed San Francisco noncitizens to vote in school board elections if they had a child who went to school in the district. In 2022, a state Superior Court judge struck down the law in a case brought by the United States Justice Foundation, a conservative nonprofit. The California Court of Appeal ultimately reversed the ruling.

“I think that we have to go beyond. Are we doing the bare minimum to how we can get everyone fully involved?” said Vincent Pan, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action.

He hopes that Wong’s appointment reasserts the commitment of recent measures to get more San Franciscans civically involved.

“I’m hoping there will be a day where it won’t be as newsworthy that you have someone who’s an immigrant and a noncitizen involved in helping make the city run better, especially in a city where such a large percentage of the community is immigrants,” Pan said.