Supes to Vote on Legislation Expanding SRO Voting Rights

Landmark legislation to expand SRO voting rights passed the Rules Committee yesterday by a 2-1 vote, with Supervisor Sean Elsbernd dissenting. The full Board of Supervisors will vote on the ordinance August 14.

Supervisor Ross Mirkirimi’s legislation requires that individuals “engaged in ‘get out the vote’ activities be provided access to Residential Hotels as visitors of guests and occupants, on the same basis as any other visitor.” The legislation was put together in the wake of a number of horror stories where voter outreach workers were not allowed into certain SRO hotels despite being accompanied by longtime residents.

There are 500 SRO hotels in San Francisco with 30,000 residents. These residents are very low-income and have traditionally been registered to vote at a lower rate than San Francisco’s general population. SRO residents are less likely to have televisions, cable, internet access and telephones.

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