A statewide campaign to require voter identification and citizenship verification in California elections has surpassed the signature threshold needed to qualify for the November ballot, setting up a potential political clash with Gov. Gavin Newsom and voting rights advocates.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A citizen-led campaign to require voter identification and strengthen voter eligibility verification in California elections has surpassed the number of signatures required to place the measure before voters this November, according to organizers leading the effort.
The initiative, known as the California Voter ID Initiative, seeks to amend the state constitution to require voters to present identification when casting ballots, mandate verification of voter citizenship and require the state to maintain accurate voter registration rolls. Organizers say the petition has drawn widespread support across the state.
According to reporting by Fox News, the group Reform California submitted approximately 1.3 million signatures to county election authorities. The campaign required at least 875,000 verified signatures to qualify for the statewide ballot.
Reform California described the effort as a bipartisan initiative and said the signatures collected came from residents in all 58 counties across the state. The organization says the petition reflects support from voters representing a wide range of political affiliations and backgrounds.
State Assembly Member Carl DeMaio, a Republican who chairs Reform California, said public polling suggests strong support among California voters for voter identification requirements.
“Polling overwhelmingly shows a supermajority consensus for voter ID requirements,” DeMaio said.
“It’s common sense,” he added. “If you need an ID to board an airplane or buy a pack of cigarettes or buy a case of beer, you should make it pretty easy to use an ID to vote in an election. This is not hard, it’s not rocket science, it’s quite simple.”
In announcing the submission of signatures, DeMaio said the proposal is designed to strengthen public confidence in the election system.
“A common-sense and bipartisan way to restore the trust and confidence all voters should have in our election system,” he said.
DeMaio also stated that nearly half of the roughly 1.35 million signatures gathered came from voters identifying as Democrats or independents. He predicted that political opposition would attempt to frame the initiative as partisan despite that support.
“Our measure simply holds government officials accountable to maintain accurate voter lists and verify the identity of individuals casting ballots in our elections,” DeMaio said.
He added that states implementing voter identification programs have experienced increased participation in elections, including growth in minority voter turnout.
Opponents of the initiative, however, argue the proposal could restrict access to voting.
Julia Gomez, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, criticized the measure, saying it “is about advancing Trump’s agenda to sow chaos in our elections and keep eligible Californians from voting.”
Abdi Soltani, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California, also opposed the initiative, stating: “This initiative isn’t about election security, it’s about erecting barriers that will keep eligible Californians from exercising their fundamental right to vote.”
Under existing California law, U.S. citizenship is required to vote. However, individuals registering to vote generally attest to their citizenship status rather than submitting proof. The state also permits registration without a California driver’s license or Social Security number by issuing identifying codes.
Information published by the California secretary of state’s office states that “California does not generally require voters to show identification at the polls.”
The office notes that identification may only be required in specific circumstances, including when a person is voting for the first time in a federal election after registering by mail or online without providing a driver’s license number or Social Security number.
In those cases, acceptable identification can include government mail, a paycheck, a government check, a utility bill or a bank statement.
The ballot initiative also arrives amid a broader policy debate over voter identification laws within the state.
In 2024, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation prohibiting local governments from requiring identification to vote in municipal elections. The law was enacted after voters in Huntington County approved a local measure allowing election officials to require voter ID.
Newsom has also publicly criticized federal legislation addressing election eligibility. During a February episode of his podcast “This is Gavin Newsom,” the governor discussed the SAVE Act, a measure passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections.
Newsom said aspects of the bill “go well beyond ID … which is also part of Jim Crow, the history, and that is, when it comes to registration, you got to find your birth certificate, if you know where yours is, I have no clue where mine is or you have to have a passport and two-thirds of African Americans don’t have a passport.”
Before the California Voter ID Initiative can be placed on the ballot, county election officials must verify the submitted signatures. Once verified, the results will be forwarded to the California secretary of state’s office for certification. If the threshold is confirmed, the measure will appear on the statewide ballot in November, where voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to require voter identification and citizenship verification in future elections.
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