(This story has been updated with additional information.)
An initiative to amend the California Constitution to require voters to show identification to cast a ballot has officially collected enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, according to the California Secretary of State.
In a notice sent to county election offices on Friday, April 24, state officials said the proposition, submitted by Assembly Member Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, and state Sen. Tony Strickland, D-Huntington Beach, collected more than 962,106 valid signatures with the counties. To get on the November ballot, the initiative required 874,641 signatures.
“The California Voter ID Initiative is a common-sense and bipartisan way to restore the trust and confidence all voters should have in our election system,” DeMaio, who is Reform California’s chairman, said in a news release. “Our measure simply holds government officials accountable to maintain accurate voter lists and verify the identity of individuals casting ballots in our elections. Other states that have implemented Voter ID programs have seen an increase in participation in their elections, including an increase in minority voting.”
California does not require ID to vote
California is one of 14 states in the country that do not require voters to present identification to cast a ballot, according to Ballotpedia.
This is something the President Donald Trump’s administration aims to change with the SAVE Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a photo ID to vote in federal elections.
Both the Campaign Legal Center and the Brennan Center for Justice, however, say the bill would create new barriers for Americans who are otherwise eligible to vote.
The House has passed the SAVE Act, but the proposed legislation is currently stalled in the Senate.
What are the parameters of the proposed initiative?
“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 in a March 2 news release announcing the submission of signatures.
The measure would amend the California Constitution in the following ways, according to proponents:
What proponents say
DeMaio called the push for a California voter ID initiative a “true grassroots, broad-based, bipartisan movement.”
“It’s about good government,” DeMaio said.
Based on the signatures collected, DeMaio said that a majority of Democrats and a supermajority of Independents and Republicans support the initiative.
“In November, by voting to enact the California voter ID initiative, we will strike a blow for democracy,” DeMaio said. “We will improve public trust and confidence in our elections.”
Strickland spoke at news conference with DeMaio and others in early March announcing the initiative’s milestone, saying, “Every vote that’s fraudulent takes a vote away from someone who has that right to vote,” The Press-Enterprise reported.
“For the future of democracy, it’s important that we have these safeguards,” Strickland said, the newspaper reported.
What opponents say
The League of Women Voters of California joined civil rights and other community organizations, such as the ACLU and California Common Cause, in condemning the California voter ID initiative.
“This voter ID measure is not about protecting voters; it is about importing the current federal administration’s election lies and intimidation tactics into California,” Jenny Farrell, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of California, said in a March 2 release. “It would expose voters’ sensitive personal information, create new ways to reject eligible ballots, and wrongly target voters through error-prone citizenship checks.”
The nonprofit goes on to say, “California’s elections are already secure,” adding that “election officials verify voter identity at every stage of the process — at registration, at check-in, and during ballot processing.”
With no widespread evidence of noncitizen voter impersonation, the nonprofit said an ID requirement is not justified.
“This initiative isn’t about election security, it’s about erecting barriers that will keep eligible Californians from exercising their fundamental right to vote as citizens,” Abdi Soltani, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California, said in the release.
When will initiative be put to vote?
The proposition will be put to a vote during California’s general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Voter ID measure qualifies for November ballot in California
Reporting by Daniella Segura, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
