California Democrats stand firm in their belief that the state’s electoral system is functioning as intended. However, the skepticism among Californians could soon prompt calls for concrete evidence.
Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio has announced that his supporters are gearing up to present 1.35 million petition signatures in a bid to place a Voter ID constitutional amendment on the November ballot. This initiative is quite detailed. It mandates that individuals provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for the first time. Additionally, it requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID when casting their ballots. For mail-in voting, the proposition insists on including identifying information linked to a valid government-issued ID alongside signature verification. Moreover, it seeks to authorize formal audits of voter rolls.
Initially, DeMaio introduced this proposal in Sacramento, where it was met with rejection by Democratic lawmakers. Undeterred, supporters have now turned to the public to gain momentum.
The campaign’s organizers report that a dedicated force of 18,000 volunteers collected signatures from across the state. To secure a spot on the ballot, the campaign needs to submit approximately 880,000 valid signatures, equating to 5 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. DeMaio’s team claims that they have been validating signatures throughout the process and are confident they have surpassed this requirement.
After submission, counties will perform a random sample verification. If the projected validity rate is confirmed, the Secretary of State will certify the initiative, allowing it to proceed to the ballot. This follows the established constitutional process.
On the national stage, California is somewhat of an anomaly. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the majority of states have some form of voter identification requirement, with many insisting on a photo ID. As of now, California does not adhere to these standards.
Organizers say 18,000 volunteers gathered signatures statewide. To qualify for the ballot, the campaign must submit roughly 880,000 valid signatures, representing 5 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. DeMaio’s team says it validated signatures as it went and believes it has cleared that threshold.
Once submitted, counties conduct a random sample verification. If the projected validity rate holds, the Secretary of State certifies the initiative, and it goes to the ballot. That is the constitutional process.
Nationally, California is an outlier. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, most states require some form of voter identification, and many require a photo ID. California does not.
Democrats argue that additional ID requirements could disenfranchise voters. Voting rights advocates and some legal experts contend that stricter documentary proof standards could prevent eligible voters from voting because they lack qualifying documents. That concern has shaped Democratic resistance in Sacramento.
Yet documented vulnerabilities exist.
Nearly 100 stolen mail-in ballots were discovered at a Sacramento homeless encampment, forcing officials to void and reissue them. In another case, a California woman was charged with registering her dog to vote and casting fraudulent ballots in multiple elections.
California Secretary of State Shirley Webber argued that the state “has several security protocols…including requiring people who register to vote to provide their drivers licenses or state ID’s and/or the last four digits of their Social Security number when they’re registering to vote.
DeMaio challenges Democratic assurances directly.
“I think the best way to prove that she’s not telling the truth is, while she says we’re already doing this, she then told the fiscal analyst that in order to do all these new requirements and reforms it would cost millions and millions of dollars.
“So my question to the Secretary of State is, which is the lie? Are you already doing it, or are there so many new requirements in this that it’s going to cost you money?”
If the safeguards already exist, why would codifying them require millions in new spending?
Californians already know that those claimed safeguards aren’t really enforced. For example, in San Joaquin County a local elected official has pled no contest to 14 felonies related to election fraud after being caught registering over 70 ineligible voters using the system Webber touts. A handful of those ineligible voters were not U.S. citizens and didn’t even live in the United States, and that elected official, Shakir Khan, cast dozens of those ballots.
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Now look at the numbers.
According to a Los Angeles Times and UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted statewide April 21 to April 28, 2025, among 6,201 registered California voters, 71 percent support requiring new voters to prove citizenship when registering. That includes 59 percent of Democrats, 95 percent of Republicans, and 71 percent of voters registered with no party preference or other parties
A separate proposal to require proof of citizenship or a government-issued ID every time a voter casts a ballot receives 54 percent statewide support. Among Republicans, support reaches 88 percent. Among independents and other party voters, it stands at 54 percent.
Perhaps most striking, 93 percent of respondents said it would be easy to present a government-issued photo ID as proof of citizenship when voting. At the same time, 68 percent of Californians express confidence in the integrity of the state’s election system, and 57 percent believe voter fraud is very or fairly rare. That combination matters. Voters can believe the system generally works and still want stronger guardrails.
At the federal level, the House passed the SAVE Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration nationwide. Parts of related executive action have been blocked in federal court, and California is among the states challenging those efforts. If Washington cannot settle the issue, states will.
Here is the political tension Democrats now face. Bipartisan majorities support proof of citizenship at registration. A statewide majority supports ID at the ballot box. Nearly the entire electorate says compliance would be easy.
Yet Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento have repeatedly voted against voter ID proposals.
Democrats say the system works.
Seventy-one percent of Californians say, prove it.
Now Sacramento politicians may finally have to defend, in front of voters, why they fought so hard against a policy most Californians already support.
And this time, the verdict will not come from a committee hearing. It will come from the ballot.
Editor’s Note: Republicans are fighting for election integrity by requiring proper identification to vote.
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