SFGATE/BAY CITY NEWS SERVICE (SAN FRANCISCO) -- The panel featured Jason McDaniel, associate professor of Political Science at San Francisco State University, and Anni Chung, president and chief executive officer of Self-Help for the Elderly.
McDaniel said that along with low voter turnout for local elections, San Francisco voters are disproportionately white and older. Younger voters, even those who are registered, are much less likely to participate in local elections.
“I study local elections because I think they are an essential pathway to achieving greater equality, especially for underrepresented communities,” McDaniel said. “You know, I often hear, ‘Oh, my vote doesn’t matter, they don’t care about me.’ That perception, especially at the local level, is not true.”