In the days leading up to last week's election, signs posted around Santa Ana showed a community divided over whether residents who are not citizens should be allowed to vote in local races. "Strengthen Our Democracy," read lawn signs, in English and ...

On the ballot, voters were asked if noncitizens in Santa Ana should be granted the right to vote in local elections.

Santa Ana would have been the first city in California to allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in city council and mayoral races.

Voters in a Southern California city have rejected a measure that would have allowed residents who aren’t U.S. citizens to vote in local elections