San Francisco, California, Proposition D, Amend City Ethics Laws and Expand Restrictions on Gifts to City Officers and Employees Initiative (March 2024)

San Francisco Proposition D
Election date March 5, 2024
Topic Local government transparency
Status Approved
Type Referral

San Francisco Proposition D was on the ballot as a referral in San Francisco on March 5, 2024. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported amending city ethics laws including expanding restrictions on gifts that can be received by city officers and employees.

A "no" vote opposed amending city ethics laws including expanding restrictions on gifts that can be received by city officers and employees.

Measure design

The measure, which was referred to the ballot by the San Francisco Ethics Commission, was designed to change city law to expand restrictions on gifts that may be received by city officials and city employees. The ethics commission found that the following gifts were exempt from the prohibition under existing law:

• gifts received in the home of the restricted source;
• gifts exchanged on birthdays, holidays, and other occasions where gifts are commonly exchanged;
• gifts received as a wedding guest;
• gifts given as an ‘act of neighborliness;’
• gifts received from someone the City official is dating;
• gifts received from long-time friends; and
• gifts received because of an existing personal or business relationship unrelated to the official’s position.

Proposition D was designed to prohibit gifts given from the following restricted sources:

• a person doing business with the officer or employee’s department;
• a person seeking, obtaining, or possessing a license, permit, or other entitlement for use, in which the officer or employee was personally and substantially involved, for 12 months after the action was taken on the item;
• for members of boards and commissions, a person doing business with a city department pursuant to a contract that requires the approval of the board or commission;
• an affiliate of an entity that qualifies as a restricted source under one of the preceding three bullets, with affiliate defined to include the entity’s board of directors, principal officers, or persons with a 10% or more ownership interest;
• a person who during the prior 12 months attempted to influence the officer or employee in any legislative or administrative action (already prohibited under current law);
• for city officers, a registered lobbyist; and
• any permit consultant who has registered with the ethics commission, if the permit consultant has reported any contacts with the designated employee’s or officer’s department to carry out permit consulting services during the prior 12 months.

Proposition D was designed to create a city-wide Statement of Incompatible Activities (SIA) list for city officials and employees, replacing departmental SIAs

Election results

San Francisco Proposition D
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		198,584	89.21%
No		24,031	10.79%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Proposition D was as follows:

“

Shall the City amend its ethics laws to further restrict the gifts City employees and officers may accept, expand the definition of conduct by City employees, officers and others that those laws prohibit as bribery, require additional reporting of gifts to City departments, create a uniform set of rules for nonwork activities of City employees and officers instead of rules by each department, create additional penalties for some ethics violations, require ethics training for additional City employees, and change the requirements for making future amendments to some ethics laws?”

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• San Francisco Ethics Commission

Political Parties

• San Francisco Democratic Party
• San Francisco Republican Party

Arguments

• San Francisco Ethics Commission Chair Yvonne Lee: "This is a project the Commission has been working on for the last three years and I would like to thank all of the stakeholders, who worked with the Commission to provide feedback on, and contribute to, the ordinance the Commission just approved for the ballot – feedback from members of the public, NGOs, and our colleagues in City government was a crucial aspect of this project."
• San Francisco Ethics Commission Vice Chair Theis Finlev: "Our City residents and dedicated public servants alike expect and deserve a City government that works to promote the public good, not personal interests. Reformed conflict of interest laws and increased training for City officials can help ensure that governmental decisions are made on a fair and impartial basis."

Opposition

Opponents

Candidates

• Eve Del Castello (R) - Congressional candidate

Arguments

• Eve Del Castello, President of the Republican Forum of San Francisco and congressional candidate: "This proposition does not tighten city ethics laws. The way it is now - each city department sets its own policy prohibiting its officers and employees from engaging in certain activities that may conflict with their city duties. This proposal would mean creating uniform set of rules for all prohibited nonwork activities for city officers and employees. This leaves the rules left out regarding those that may conflict with their city duties. ... This proposition says nothing regarding campaign finance enforcement and requires voter approval to amend most City ethics laws. This loses our voting rights regarding ethics laws enacted by voters and may be amended only by voter approval. Vote against this!"

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing local ballot measures in California

The measure was placed on the ballot by a unanimous vote of the San Francisco Ethics Commission. The ethics commission was created through voter approval of San Francisco Proposition K in 1993.

On its website, the San Francisco Ethics Commission wrote the following explanation for why the measure was referred to the ballot:

“

...Numerous guilty pleas and convictions of high-level officials and contractors have revealed numerous recent instances in which individuals seeking favorable outcomes from City government provided things of value to City officials in an attempt to influence the actions of those officials. Commission staff studied these instances of corruption, as well as related ethics issues facing the City, in multiple policy reports. The recommendations in these reports were the foundation for what is now Proposition D. For more information on the Commission’s policy project, including copies of detailed policy reports that led to Proposition D, visit the Ethics Commission’s website. The Commission voted to place Proposition D on the ballot to address known ethics issues identified through the recent corruption scandals and to help ensure that the processes of governmental decision-making in the City of San Francisco can be trusted by the public to consistently operate in a manner that provides fair, just, and equitable treatment for all.

”

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in California

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in California.

How to vote in California

Poll times

All polls in California are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in California, an individual must be a U.S. citizen and California resident. A voter must be at least 18 years of age on Election Day. Pre-registration is available at 16 years of age. Pre-registered voters are automatically registered to vote when they turn 18.

Automatic registration

California automatically registers eligible individuals to vote when they complete a driver's license, identification (ID) card, or change of address transaction through the Department of Motor Vehicles. Learn more by visiting this website.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

California has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

California allows same-day voter registration.

Californians must be registered to vote at least 15 days before Election Day. If the registration deadline has passed for an upcoming election, voters may visit a location designated by their county elections official during the 14 days prior to, and including Election Day to conditionally register to vote and vote a provisional ballot, which are counted once county election officials have completed the voter registration verification process. The state refers to this process as Same Day Voter Registration.

Residency requirements

To register to vote in California, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

California's constitution requires that voters be U.S. citizens. When registering to vote, proof of citizenship is not required. Individuals who become U.S. citizens less than 15 days before an election must bring proof of citizenship to their county elections office to register to vote in that election. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.

As of November 2024, two jurisdictions in California had authorized noncitizen residents to vote for local board of education positions through local ballot measures. Only one of those jurisdictions, San Francisco, had implemented that law. Noncitizens voting for board of education positions must register to vote using a separate application from the state voter registration application.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. One state, Ohio, requires proof of citizenship only when registering to vote at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The secretary of state's My Voter Status website allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

California does not require voters to present identification before casting a ballot in most cases.

On September 29, 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed SB 1174 into law prohibiting any jurisdiction in the state from adopting a local law that requires voters to present ID before voting.

The federal Help America Vote Act requires that individuals who register to vote by mail and who have not voted previously in a federal election in their state must provide either their driver's license or a paycheck, bank statement, current utility bill, or government document showing their name and address. Individuals voting by mail must include a copy of one of those documents with their absentee/mail-in ballot.

These requirements do not apply if an individual submitted a copy of their identification, their driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering to vote.

The following list of accepted ID to comply with HAVA requirements was current as of October 2025. Click here for the California Secretary of State page to ensure you have the most current information.

“

Current and valid photo identification provided by a third party in the ordinary course of business that includes the name and photograph of the individual presenting it. Examples of photo identification include, but are not limited to, the following documents: driver's license or identification card of any state; passport; employee identification card; identification card provided by a commercial establishment; credit or debit card; military identification card; student identification card; health club identification card; insurance plan identification card; or public housing identification card. Any of the following documents, provided that the document includes the name and address of the individual presenting it, and is dated since the date of the last general election…: utility bill; bank statement; government check; government paycheck; document issued by a governmental agency; sample ballot or other official elections document issued by a governmental, agency dated for the election in which the individual is providing it as proof, of residency or identity; voter notification card issued by a governmental agency; public housing identification card issued by a governmental agency; lease or rental statement or agreement issued by a governmental agency; student identification card issued by a governmental agency; tuition statement or bill issued by a governmental agency; insurance plan card or drug discount card issued by a governmental agency; discharge certificates, pardons, or other official documents issued to the individual by a governmental agency in connection with the resolution of a criminal case, indictment, sentence, or other matter; public transportation authority senior citizen and disabled discount cards issued by a governmental agency; identification documents issued by governmental disability agencies; identification documents issued by government homeless shelters and other government temporary or transitional facilities; drug prescription issued by a government doctor or other governmental health care provider; property tax statement issued by a governmental agency; vehicle registration issued by a governmental agency; or vehicle certificate of ownership issued by a governmental agency.

”

See also

Local measures

• Local measures in 2024
• Local government transparency on the ballot

California

• California 2024 local measures
• Local ballot measures, California
• San Francisco, California

News and analysis

• State and local preemption conflicts
• Measures advancing national agendas

External links

• San Francisco Ethics Commission, Proposition D