Elecciones 2024: Una guía para defensores de la causa del VIH [Spanish]
If it seems like every election for the past few years has had enormous stakes… Well, that’s ‘cause it’s true.
At the national level, authoritarianism and white nationalism continue to threaten our diverse democracy—especially endangering queer people, people of color, and other marginalized communities.
Here in San Francisco, city and state leaders are still failing to address our community’s biggest problems with evidence-backed solutions, like creating Overdose Prevention Centers to save lives and reduce public drug use. Their lack of political will perpetuates San Francisco’s intertwined epidemics of substance-use disorder and HIV.
At San Francisco AIDS Foundation, we advocate and organize year-round for public policies that advance health justice for people affected by HIV. But elections represent a uniquely valuable opportunity for those of us guided by compassion and data to push policymakers in the right direction.
We know it’s exhausting to have to keep showing up every election. And yet, to not show up would be to choose silence, and we in the HIV movement know all too well that Silence = Death. So this November, use your voice. Use your vote.
To make voting as easy as possible, we’ve compiled information below about how to register, how to cast your ballot, and ballot measures that SFAF is endorsing or opposing.
If you’re registered to vote, you will receive a ballot in the mail. You can simply fill out the ballot and return it by mail, using a postage-paid return envelope that comes with it. Ballots have to be postmarked on or before the election date. If you prefer, you can return your ballot in person either at the City Hall Voting Center, during Voting Center hours, or at one of the City’s 37 official drop boxes, 24/7. Finally, you can choose to vote in person at the City Hall Voting Center starting October 7, or at your polling place on November 5. You can look up your polling place on the City’s website.
In order to vote, you first have to register with the State of California’s Elections Division. If you want to vote in the November 5 election, the deadline to register is October 21. After that, you can still register, but you have to do it in person at your county elections office, polling place, or vote center. You can find one of these locations on the Elections Division’s website.
To be eligible to register, you have to be:
The easiest way to register is online. To do this, you’ll need the following info:
The online voter registration form is available in Spanish, Chinese, and several other languages.
If you’re already registered, remember that after you move or legally change your name, you need to re-register.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation cannot support or oppose candidates for elected office. We can, however, take stances on state and local ballot measures, and do so when we believe a measure will significantly affect SFAF’s work to promote health, wellness, and social justice for communities most impacted by HIV. We decide which measures to take a position on, and what position to take, based on input from members of our Public Policy team, executive leadership team, and board of directors.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition 3 would repeal Proposition 8 (from 2008) and guarantee the freedom to marry regardless of gender or race as a fundamental right in the California Constitution. In 2008, California voters narrowly passed Prop 8–a ballot measure that defined marriage as between one man and one woman in the California Constitution. While marriage-equality bans have since been deemed unconstitutional by a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2015, advocates have pushed Prop 3 onto the ballot this year to preemptively protect this right, after the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning long-standing precedent protecting the right to abortion. As an organization with many LGBTQ+ clients and supporters, SFAF strongly supports this proposition to solidify a fundamental right for our LGBTQ+ community.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition 5 would make it easier for local governments (like cities and school districts) to borrow money for affordable housing and infrastructure (think streets and parks). Right now, if a local government wants to borrow money to pay for these public projects, they have to get approval from 66.67% of voters—even though for almost anything else, they only need approval from 50%. That unreasonably high bar is part of why San Francisco and other California cities haven’t built enough housing that working-class folks can afford. If Prop 5 passes, then a smaller, but still solid majority of voters–55%–will be enough to OK taxes to fund the housing our communities badly need. With nearly a quarter of new HIV diagnoses in San Francisco occurring in people experiencing homelessness, addressing housing instability among people affected by HIV is a top issue for our organization. Habitat for Humanity California, California Professional Firefighters, and the California Federation of Teachers all support Prop 5—and San Francisco AIDS Foundation agrees with them.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition 6 would remove language from California’s Constitution allowing “involuntary servitude”–essentially, slavery– as a punishment for crime. The proposition would also ban state prisons from punishing incarcerated people for refusing a work assignment. A yes on Prop 6 is not only about racial justice–a disproportionate number of incarcerated Californians are Black, Indigenous, and other people of color–but also has tie-ins to health: When incarcerated people are forced to do menial labor, they have less time to participate in rehabilitative programs. There is vast support for the measure statewide, including from organizations aligned with San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s values around justice, like the ACLU and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition 32 would raise the minimum wage for workers throughout California from $16 an hour to $18 an hour by January 2026 (and sooner for businesses with over 25 employees). Like it does now, the minimum wage would go up automatically each year after that, based on inflation. Minimum wage within San Francisco is already $18.67 (and that wouldn’t change if Prop 32 passes), but workers making minimum wage in other cities around the Bay Area and across the state are currently making far too little to cover basic expenses like housing. According to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, a single person with no kids has to earn at least $27.32 an hour to pay for the basics in California. The fact that many Californians don’t is at the root of many problems San Francisco AIDS Foundation works to address, like housing instability and lack of access to healthcare. We recommend a “yes” vote on Prop 35.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition 33 would allow California cities and counties to decide for themselves whether to limit the amount landlords can raise rent each year and which kinds of homes these limits should apply to. Under current law, only the state is allowed to put in place these limits, or “rent control,” and no one is allowed to put rent control on homes built after February 1, 1995, single-family homes, or condos. In addition, landlords can raise rent as much as they want between tenants (just not on an existing tenant renewing their lease).
The unaffordability of rental housing is one of the biggest challenges facing marginalized people living with HIV. Cities and counties should have access to every option for tackling this problem. Since every community in California has different kinds of housing, different housing problems, and different values, we don’t think it makes sense for politicians in Sacramento to choose how every community in the state deals with the fact that the rent is too high. Vote “yes” on Prop 33 to give that choice to local communities.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Prop 35 would make an existing, temporary tax on health-insurance companies permanent, and use that money to improve healthcare for people on Medi-Cal (California’s health-insurance program for people with low income) and lower drug prices for all Californians. The proposition would prevent the state from using the funds for purposes unrelated to healthcare, like it does now. An estimated 42,000 people living with HIV–almost a third of all PLWH in California–are on Medi-Cal, and many more Californians at risk of HIV rely on the program, so making sure Medi-Cal has strong, stable funding is critical to HIV care and prevention in our state. That’s why San Francisco AIDS Foundation–along with hundreds of other groups, including Planned Parenthood–recommends a “yes” vote on Prop 35.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: No
Proposition 36 would change certain drug and theft crimes that are currently misdemeanors, or less serious crimes, into felonies, more serious crimes that are usually punished by prison time of at least a year. Prop 36 is based on the idea that if we make punishments related to drugs worse, people will stop using drugs. However, we know from decades of the failed War on Drugs that this just doesn’t work. We also know that criminalizing drug use hurts Black, Indigenous, and other people of color more than white folks. Because Prop 36 will result in many more Californians going to prison, it will cost taxpayers more than $26 billion over the next decade. About $850 million of that money will be taken away from funding for addiction treatment, mental healthcare, and other services that are actually helping solve California’s problems.
As a provider of substance-use disorder treatment and other health services for people who use substances, San Francisco AIDS Foundation strongly supports a public-health response to the public-health issue of problematic substance uses–strategies like giving out clean syringes and providing people treatment on demand. We know that a criminal-legal response will not end substance use, nor prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. Along with unions like SEIU and legal experts like the ACLU, San Francisco AIDS Foundation urges voters to say no to Prop 36.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition B would allow the City of San Francisco to borrow money for various projects—including moving City Clinic, which provides free sexual-health services like STI tests, to a new space. Receiving over 18,000 visits each year, City Clinic plays an extremely important part in San Francisco’s work to fight HIV and other STIs. Because the Clinic doesn’t charge for services, it helps make sure that every San Franciscan can get sexual healthcare, no matter what their financial situation is. Unfortunately, the building that City Clinic is in is more than 100 years old, and in bad shape. Prop B would let the City borrow $28 million (without raising taxes) to relocate the Clinic to a better location. SFAF urges voters to approve this critical ballot measure!
SFAF’s voting recommendation: No on D, yes on E
Proposition D and E both have to do with the City and County of San Francisco’s commissions, official groups of SF residents who either give advice to the City on a certain topic or make decisions for the City on a specific subject. For example, the Police Commission makes rules about police officers’ behavior. Proposition D was put on the ballot by TogetherSF, a politically conservative organization that gets most of its money from one wealthy investor. Prop D would get rid of at least half of SF’s commissions—including commissions that are important to San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s work, like the Public Health Commission and the LGBTQI+ Advisory Committee—and take away many of these commissions’ power to make decisions, while making other changes to reduce average San Franciscans’ say in our government. Proposition E is a reasonable alternative to Prop D: It would create a task force to study SF’s commissions and recommend any necessary changes. SFAF recommends a “yes” vote on the sensible Prop E and a “no” vote on the drastic Prop D.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition G would require the City of San Francisco to put at least $8.25 million each year toward rent assistance for seniors, families, and people with disabilities with very low income. Right now, people who make less than 35% of “area median income” (in other words, under $36,700 for a single person with no kids) can’t even afford the rent for most “affordable” housing in the city. Prop G would help folks in this group, and specifically older adults, parents, and people with disabilities–including long-term survivors and people living with HIV and AIDS-related disabilities. To prevent vulnerable San Franciscans from becoming unhoused or pushed out of our community, SFAF recommends that voters say yes to Prop G.
SFAF’s voting recommendation: Yes
Proposition O would put in place a variety of City of San Francisco laws and policies meant to promote abortion and other reproductive rights. Some of these laws wouldn’t actually do much. For example, Prop O would create a “Reproductive Freedom Fund” that could receive donations—but wouldn’t put any City dollars in the Fund. Other laws that the proposition would put in place would make a difference, though. Prop O would, for instance, allow the City’s Department of Public Health (DPH) to put up signs outside of anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” letting potential patients know that the centers don’t provide abortions, and require DPH to create a website listing facilities that do provide abortions. As an organization committed to ensuring health justice, we support measures that make it easy for San Franciscans to get correct information about reproductive and sexual health. We at SFAF recommend voting “yes” on Prop O.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s HIV Advocacy Network (HAN) is a grassroots group of activists in the Bay Area fighting to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic and improve the lives of communities impacted by HIV.
