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Outspoken but outvoted: low turnout at the polls plagues activist hotbed of San Francisco

Demographics may play role in low numbers seen on election days
San Francisco voters overall do not have too much in common with defeated GOP candidate Meg Whitman. However, they share one trait: Politically active as they may be, much of the time they cannot be bothered to vote.

The daily street protests forming the backdrop of the city’s life for generations belie a lack of engagement at the ballot box. San Francisco has consistently one of the worst voter turnout records in the Bay Area and even the state.

While press coverage of Whitman’s repeated failure to show up to the polling place forced her to “apologize” to the voters during her first televised gubernatorial debate with Jerry Brown in late September, San Francisco officials are sounding decidedly less moralistic.

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Bay Bridge crossing more expensive than ever

Commuters on the Bay Bridge will have to shell out more cash starting Thursday, a result of toll hikes on all seven state-owned bridges in the region. Prices will go up based on rush hour during the week while weekend fees will rise regardless of the time of crossing. Carpooling across the bridge will also cost commuters money, a big change from previous years, and require a FasTrak.

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Video quilt stitches together stories of HIV/AIDS battle

In the store it doesn’t look like much, but inside the booth on Castro Street something bigger is going on. Generations HIV, part of the HIV Story Project, aims to get conversation flowing about how HIV/AIDS have affected different generations by allowing people to record questions, answers or stories about the diseases within the booth.

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San Francisco props A and B pass; millions more for school, safety retrofits

San Francisco voters approved measures to retrofit schools and emergency services facilities Tuesday in an election in which five of seven local propositions passed. Twenty-three percent of voters showed up at San Francisco’s 590 precincts, passing propositions A, B, D, E and F. Proposition A, which will extend through 2030 a special property tax that was enacted in 1990, was approved by 69.9 percent of voters. Proposition B, the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond, was approved by 79.2 percent of voters.

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Prop. A looks to extend school parcel tax another 20 years

Proposition A on Tuesday’s ballot seeks to extend a 1990 parcel tax aimed at helping fund capital improvements in the San Francisco Unified School District. In addition to authorizing the tax for another 20 years, it would also allow it to be increased annually, up to 2 percent, based on inflation.

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