California currently generally verifies voter identity through signatures rather than…
It doesn’t appear as though true election integrity will be coming to the state of California anytime soon, thanks to Democrats. California voters decisively rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have imposed new identification requirements on voters casting ballots in person and by mail. Proposition 39 was defeated Tuesday, with approximately 59% voting “No”
and roughly 41% supporting the measure in the latest count. The Associated Press called the contest against Proposition 39 on election night, although California continued counting millions of ballots afterward. The measure would have required Californians voting in person to present government-issued identification before casting their ballots. Mail voters would have been required to place
the last four digits of a designated government-issued identification number on their ballot envelopes. Those numbers would have needed to match identification information associated with the voter’s registration. Proposition 39 also would have required election officials to report annually on the percentage of registered voters whose citizenship had been verified. California currently generally verifies voter
identity through signatures rather than requiring identification each time someone votes. When registering, voters provide identifying information and attest under penalty of perjury that they meet California’s eligibility requirements.
California’s result contrasted with several other states considering voter identification…
Election officials subsequently compare signatures associated with ballots against signatures maintained in voter registration records. Supporters presented Proposition 39 as an election-integrity measure designed to strengthen public confidence in California elections. Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio helped spearhead the campaign alongside Reform California after previous legislative efforts to impose voter identification requirements failed. The California Republican
Party and Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association were among organizations supporting the proposal. Backers argued requiring identification to vote was a straightforward safeguard already employed in various forms across much of the country. “Prop. 39 failed this year, but we are confident that commonsense voter ID is still in California’s future,” campaign spokesperson Meredith Shields said
following the defeat. Opponents mounted an expensive campaign of their own and argued the additional requirements could prevent some otherwise eligible Californians from successfully casting ballots. The opposition included the California Democratic Party, ACLU California Action… The opposition included the California Democratic Party, ACLU California Action, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of
California. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and Gov. -elect Xavier Becerra (D) were also prominent opponents. “It was an absolutely unnecessary ballot measure,” ACLU California Action Executive Director David Trujillo claimed after the election.
Opponents maintained that California’s existing election safeguards were adequate and argued documented
voter impersonation and noncitizen voting are rare. Supporters countered that identification requirements could deter illegal voting while increasing voter confidence regardless of the documented frequency of fraud. The campaign attracted significant national money. Supporters raised approximately $37 million, according to CalMatters, with billionaire Richard Uihlein providing roughly $17 million and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia contributing
approximately $8 million. Opponents raised approximately $35 million, including nearly $6.
5 million from the California Democratic Party. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated implementing Proposition 39 could have cost state and local governments anywhere from tens of millions to the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually. California’s result contrasted with several other states considering voter identification measures Tuesday. Voters in Nevada, North Carolina and
Ohio approved constitutional measures establishing or expanding voter identification requirements, according to Ballotpedia. Voters in Colorado, another Democrat-run state, also rejected a separate proposal involving identification requirements for mail ballots. The California defeat therefore did not reflect a uniform national verdict on voter ID. Instead, Tuesday produced sharply different results depending on the state, with
voters simultaneously approving tougher identification rules elsewhere while rejecting California’s proposed system.
For California, the result means the state’s existing voter-verification framework remains intact.
It also represents another unsuccessful attempt by Republicans and election-integrity advocates to establish a statewide voter identification requirement in one of the nation’s largest Democratic-controlled states.
