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Comment by xenadu02 | Hacker News Reader

Tech kids don't vote. An informal poll of my coworkers reveals those that live in SF didn't vote last election, some because they thought you had to live here for over a year before you can vote. Tech companies don't seem to do anything to encourage people to register either.

I voted (especially for pro-building, pro-housing candidates). Maybe if everyone else did the same we could change a few things.

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A lot of "tech kids", myself included, are immigrants and can't vote.

And, on a separate note, it's ridiculous that I have lived here for over 4 years and paid hundreds of thousands in taxes but do not have any way to influence the democratic process (it is equally ridiculous that I can still vote in my home country despite not setting foot there for more than 2 weeks per year for the past 6 years and not contributing to its economy at all. The current definition of citizenship is completely outdated in the globalized world)

Also, a lot of "tech kids" like myself aren't in SF proper and thus can't vote on things like SF rent control. It's amazing how privilege acts to protect itself.

I'm sorry, what? Why should you be able to vote on a government that doesn't have jurisdiction over you?

Remember that SF is an anomaly. Generally it's the wealthy in the suburbs and the underprivileged in the city. Suburbanites voting on urban policy (in general) is the last thing you should support if you are concerned about privilege.

> * Remember that SF is an anomaly. Generally it's the wealthy in the suburbs and the underprivileged in the city. *

It's not an anomaly, it's a trend.

We can't afford to live and vote in the city where we work because those with privilege have used it to push us out.

>Generally it's the wealthy in the suburbs and the underprivileged in the city.

That's why rent in Manhattan is so cheap.

SF, New York, maybe parts of Chicago.

Consider the entire middle of the country.

So vote in your community. Every municipality in the Bay Area has its own problems, mostly various forms of NIMBYism. You can make a difference where you live.

"it's ridiculous that I have lived here for over 4 years and paid hundreds of thousands in taxes but do not have any way to influence the democratic process" really? what about the reverse? Can I easily become a citizen of your country if I moved and worked there for 4 years? Most countries don't even have options for immigrants to become true naturalized citizens of that country, in this regard, America is actually pretty progressive.

Off the top of my head, Australia, new zealand, Canada, uk & Germany are all shorter(# years) and far easier(difficulty of visas, crap you have to put up with) to naturalize/obtain citizenship. The US is one of the least progressive western countries immigration-wise.

Agreed -- and 4 years isn't considered "that bad" by many of my immigrant friends. I have several who have been in the US nearly a decade and are still waiting.

Okay but I didn't say western countries. I just said most countries (as in of the world).

How is the reverse process relevant?

That kind of mentality is just like "its ok to break the law because everyone else does it!!1"

There are more responsibilities of citizenship than just paying taxes.

I actually tell my H1B friends that getting a green card but not naturalizing is likely their best ROI.

The upside of citizenship is you can travel outside the US for more than six months without losing it. Green cards can be quite easily lost if your company wants to move you overseas for a while.

You can file for exemptions.

Bingo. Please register here: http://registertovote.ca.gov/

It's very easy!

Wish I could vote this up twice. The people who approve (or don't) the building of new housing units, The people who vote to control or not control the rents, and the people who make the rules about what you can and cannot do on a saturday night when out with your friends are all elected. If you don't like it you can easily affect the outcome of a city council election by getting your friends together to vote as a block.

How about people on visas? Like H1-Bs and so on? That is a significant part of the industry.

You do have to be a U.S. citizen to vote.[1]

[1]http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/Register.shtml

Not only that, but accidentally voting (e.g. because the person at the DMV said you could) can bar you from ever becoming a citizen and even get you deported:

http://www.immihelp.com/forum/showthread.php/91741-Denied-N-...

http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=27445

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/141110/pinoyabroad/pina...

https://beki70.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/fortunately-i-wasnt-...

Some states and local governments allow voting by non-citizen residents. They still can't vote in federal elections, though.

It seems like green card holders, who in some cities can vote in local elections, can not vote in SF.

Tech companies don't seem to do anything to encourage people to register either.

My company (a tech company) sent a bunch of emails about registering to vote and voting, and also had a drop box for voter registration forms, and encouraged people to get out of the office to vote.

Yes, this is just one anecdote, but there are people at tech companies who recognize that political issues are important and push people to get involved.

Instructions for how to register to vote-by-mail:

https://www.reddit.com/r/housingforsf/comments/22xoht/help_h...

It's easy and takes five minutes! Give it a shot and post a reply below either confirming or denying that it's really as fast as I claim.

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