Supporters of the measure say they garnered some 1.35 million signatures to get it on the ballot.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — Supporters of voter ID at California polls scored a major win Friday, as their ballot measure will appear on the November ballot.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced that the citizen-initiated measure gathered more than the 962,106 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
If approved by voters in November, it would require voters to show government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, for in-person voting. Mail voters would need to provide the last four digits of their ID.
The measure would also require California to issue ID cards upon request and mandate that election officials submit annual reports on the percentage of county voters whose citizenship was verified.
“I’m not surprised,” said state Senator Tony Strickland, a Huntington Beach Republican and proponent of the measure, about it reaching voters. “You need ID in every part of your life — to opening a bank account to getting prescription drugs to getting on a plane.”
Strickland told Courthouse News that internal polling shows the measure has strong support. Signatures from people in every county helped the measure reach the November election.
Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, a San Diego Republican and a measure proponent, said in a statement that about 1.35 million people signed papers to put the measure on the ballot, with half of those coming from Democrats and Independents.
“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. “Other states that have implemented voter ID programs have seen an increase in participation in their election, including an increase in minority voting.”
The measure is opposed by voting rights, disability rights and labor groups. They argued it would make it more difficult for millions of people to vote, make voters more susceptible to identity theft and cost the state millions of dollars.
“California’s elections are already secure,” said David Trujillo, executive director of ACLU California Action, in a statement. “This is voter suppression, pure and simple, and would create new obstacles to voting for countless Californians.”
The League of Women Voters said in a statement the measure is part of a dangerous national trend, adding that anti-voter laws sow fear and distrust in elections. The group said it will challenge supporters’ claims and work to defeat the measure.
The organization also criticized the requirement that voters include the last four digits of their government ID on mail ballots, saying it could expose millions to identity theft.
“Getting an ID can require taking time off work, arranging transportation, gathering documents like birth certificates, and paying fees,” said Jenny Farrell, executive director of the League of Women Voters of California, in a statement. “Those barriers fall hardest on people of color, seniors, people with low incomes, people with disabilities, and those in rural areas.”
A 2025 poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies found a sharp divide over whether California elections are secure, with some agreement on voter ID.
According to the poll, 68% had confidence in the integrity of the state’s election system, and 57% believed voter fraud was rare. However, 61% of Republican voters said they weren’t confident in the election system. Seventy-four percent thought fraud was prevalent.
The poll also showed 60% of Democrats opposed showing ID at every election, while 88% of Republicans supported it.
Overall, 54% of the electorate supported voter ID at the polls, while 41% opposed it.
In a September analysis, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that the ID requirement would impose tens of millions of dollars in one-time costs on local and state governments. Annual costs would range from tens of millions to the low hundreds of millions of dollars.
Subscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing
trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world,
while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood,
sports, Big Tech and the arts.