With 30,657 Election Day ballots having since been added to the 321,880 vote-by-mail ballots which have already been processed, for a total of 352,537 ballots having been tallied and representing 67.7 percent of the 521,099 potential votes which could have been cast in San Francisco, none of the early results for the real estate related measures we’re tracking have changed and none of the margins have changed by more than a percent:

Proposition A (Health and Homelessness Bond): 71% YES / 29% NO
Proposition F (Business Tax Overhaul): 68% YES / 32% NO
Proposition H (Permitting Changes and Expedition): 62% YES / 38% NO
Proposition I (Increase in Transfer Tax): 58% YES / 42% NO
Proposition K (Affordable Housing Authorization): 74% YES / 26% NO
Proposition RR (Caltrain Sales Tax): 74% YES / 26% NO

Proposition 15 (Property Tax on Commercial Properties): 71% YES / 29% NO (in SF)
Proposition 19 (Transfer of Tax Basis for Replacement Residences): 61% YES / 39% NO (in SF)
Proposition 21 (Potential Expansion of Rent Control): 51% YES / 49% NO (in SF)

But on a statewide basis, both Proposition 15 and Proposition 21 are failing and the margin for Proposition 19 to pass has narrowed:

Proposition 15 (Property Tax on Commercial Properties): 48% YES / 52% NO (Statewide)
Proposition 19 (Transfer of Tax Basis for Replacement Residences): 52% YES / 48% NO (Statewide)
Proposition 21 (Potential Expansion of Rent Control): 40% YES / 60% NO (Statewide)

And including approximately 9,000 provisional ballots, there are ~90,000 ballots submitted by San Francisco voters that have yet to be counted as of 11am on November 4 but the tally of which is unlikely to change the outcome for any of the measures above.

UPDATE (11/5): With an additional 30,654 vote-by-mail ballots having been processed and a total of 383,191 ballots having now been tallied, representing 73.5 percent of the 521,099 potential votes which could have been cast, none of the results for the real estate related measures we’re tracking have changed, nor have any of the margins by more than a percent with an estimated 61,000 ballot left to be counted.

UPDATE (11/9): Turnout in San Francisco Sets One Record, Will Miss Another. And with a total of 443,435 ballots having now been tallied, representing 85.1 percent of the 521,099 potential votes which could have been cast, none of the results for the real estate related measures we tracked has changed.

22 thoughts on “The Election Results in San Francisco (2020) [UPDATED]”
  1. So “Yes” to everything (and by pretty big margins).

    Remember what they say happens to …people who ‘just can’t say no’. I wonder if it’s true for cites as well.

  2. UPDATE: With 30,657 Election Day ballots having since been added to the 321,880 vote-by-mail ballots which have already been processed, for a total of 352,537 ballots having been tallied and representing 67.7 percent of the 521,099 potential votes which could have been cast in San Francisco, none of the early results have changed and none of the margins have changed by more than a percent (as updated above).

    But on a statewide basis, both Proposition 15 and Proposition 21 are failing and the margin for Proposition 19 to pass has narrowed.

  3. I am glad state wide voters are more informed and smarter than San Francisan…
    I know I will offend a lot of people, but hey, got to speak my true mind….

    1. Agreed, after owning real estate and living in SF for 22 years, born and raised in Bay Area, I’ll be departing soon for greener pastures. SF will continue to morph towards some leftist dystopian future. Enjoy the needles, human poop and outrageous taxes! Unfortunately there won’t even be any good restaurants left soon to enjoy.

  4. I really wish the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (LA based) would stop pissing away their money on terribly unpopular housing propositions:

    2017 LA Measure S to block new development — lost 70-30
    2018 Prop 10 to repeal Costa Hawkins — lost 60-40
    2020 Prop 21 to partially repeal Costa Hawkins — losing 60-40

    They could have spent that $80M on … I don’t know … actually providing AIDS healthcare.

    Also shocking that Prop 21 only got 51% of the vote in SF where voters are very progressive and overwhelming majority renter.

      1. I can’t speak for the AIDS foundation, but housing advocacy has long been intertwined with the history of the gay community. Thinking of the incorporation of WeHo and the passing of rent control there.

  5. UPDATE: Including approximately 9,000 provisional ballots, there are ~90,000 ballots submitted by San Francisco voters that have yet to be counted as of 11am today but the tally of which is unlikely to change the outcome for any of the measures above.

  6. When in doubt tax successful businesses and property owners. Never mind that pensions and the very structure of the municipal gov are the main problems. Ho hum.

    At least H went through. And the state stuff went fine.

      1. What, do you think SF gov is efficient or that pensions are not a severe SF budgetary problem or something?

  7. Extremely bummed about prop 19 passing. What a way to create a landed gentry class. Let’s give people 30-plus years of relief from taxes on the asset by which they disproportionately concentrate the state’s personal wealth!

    1. Agreed, but the flip side is that perhaps the older owner might sell their large unit/house such that a younger family might have the opportunity to live there. Also, the provision that requires that someone who inherits property with a reduced Prop 13 tax rate must actually live in the property as a primary residence to avail themselves of that rate is appropriate. But, yes, the disparities associated with Prop 13 (and rent control to a lesser degree) continue to plague CA.

      1. Perhaps you’re thinking of the Prop a few years ago that allowed transference, but only to a SMALLER house; this actually allows (partial) transfers to a LARGER house…which can then, I assume, be passed on to future generations at a greatly reduced rate.

        Maybe we should all become familiar with the term “pomeshchiks”

  8. It seems like an especially bad time to implement Prop L: Disproportionate CEO Pay Tax right now. Many businesses are already looking at remote work. While the amount of the additional tax is small, it might just be enough to push a company to just close their SF office.

  9. To fans of extreme wealth and income inequality, it’s always a bad time to increase taxes on the wealthy few who have so much more money than they could possibly ever need that all they can do is throw it after assets that increase the cost of living for people who actually work for a living.

    1. If you could take off your red beret for a minute, it’s not so much an ideological issue as a pragmatic one: focusing ever more of your revenue generation on an ever smaller group of people can have unintended consequences. Admittedly the ole’ “They’ll flee to Nevada” cry is trotted out every time anything is suggested, however minor, and never seems to quite happen – at least not visibly – but there are deleterious effects that really do happen (Walters skews conservative, but he’s not some fanatic).

      Of course if’s the wealthy who have the most money, and one goes where the money is, but there are too many policies that make the wealthy even wealthier. Most of them are at the Federal or state level, but SF does plenty of dumb things on its own…trying to fix one bad thing with nine other worse ones is no way to succeed.

  10. With an additional 30,654 vote-by-mail ballots having been processed and a total of 383,191 ballots having now been tallied, representing 73.5 percent of the 521,099 potential votes which could have been cast, none of the results for the real estate related measures we’re tracking have changed, nor have any of the margins by more than a percent with an estimated 61,000 ballot left to be counted.

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