VOTING RIGHTS
Electronic Voting Re-certified
LOS ANGELES — A coalition of civil rights and community groups, including the Asian Law Alliance and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), praised Secretary of State Kevin Shelley’s re-certification of “electronic voting” machines.
The machines had been de-certified April 30 because of potential security issues. But many legal organizations continued to advocate for these machines because of their benefits in allowing minorities and voters with different disabilities, including language-assistance needs, to vote more privately and accurately.
Kathay Feng of the APALC stated, “Electronic voting has been shown to prevent Florida-style errors by making the interface user-friendly.”
FOOD TRADE
Feds Have a Beef With Meat Imports
LOS ANGELES — Federal agencies have clamped down on meat imports, charging several Los Angeles companies and individuals with selling and importing banned meat and animal parts.
One case involved the alleged smuggling of $92,000 worth of Kobe beef into the United States from Japan. The two countries have stopped importing beef from each other over mad cow concerns.
In Orange County, Minh’s Meat Co. and the two brothers who own it were charged with smuggling chicken and duck feet, which are banned because they might carry the exotic Newcastle disease.
The owner of Vincent Seafood of South El Monte was charged with illegally importing duck feet from Vietnam.
Wha Soo Boon Corp. and a couple from La Canada-Flintridge were charged with falsifying shipping documents to smuggle kim chee balls from South Korea.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Non-citizens May Get S.F. Vote
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco voters will have the chance to make their city the first in California to allow non-citizens to vote in school board elections if they have children in the school system.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 to place a charter amendment on the November ballot that would allow residents who are parents or guardians of students to cast such votes. The amendment would apply to illegal aliens, among others.
“This is important because it further democratizes our society,” said President Matt Gonzalez. He said it responds to “the post-Sept. 11, anti-immigrant sentiment that has taken hold in much of the rest of the country.”
But Supervisor Fiona Ma voted against the measure, calling it misguided.
“There is no question that improving our schools should be a priority,” Ma said. “But expanding voting rights to non-citizens does nothing to further those ends.”
HUMAN RIGHTS
California Dissident Arrested in Myanmar
BEIJING — China is holding a U.S.-based dissident who disappeared while traveling in Myanmar, a human rights group said last week.
Peng Ming, a veteran Chinese democracy activist who lives in San Francisco, was arrested in Myanmar around May 22 on charges of possessing fake Chinese money, and turned over to Chinese authorities, according to Washington-based Worldrights.
Peng is the leader of the China Federation Foundation, which was founded in San Francisco last year with the goal of replacing communist rule with democracy.
Worldrights said Peng was being held in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Police and prosecutors in Wuhan said they had no information about the case.
Peng, 47, has two young children living in the United States and a daughter in Canada. His sister, Peng Xing, also lives in San Francisco.
STATE LEGISLATORS
Yee Heads APA State Lawmakers Caucus
SAN FRANCISCO — California Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Leland Yee was elected the first president of the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators at the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The charter mission for the caucus is to inform, educate, and promote the civic participation of Asian Pacific Americans in the political and electoral processes at the state and local levels.
The following members were also elected to the caucus’ board of directors: Kumar Barve of the Maryland House of Delegates; Martha Wong of the Texas House of Representatives; Velma Veloria of the Washington House of Representatives; and Mee Moua of the Minnesota State Senate.