Prop 39 campaign sues California attorney general over ballot title change for voter ID measure
The Yes on 39 campaign has filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alleging that his revised ballot title for Proposition 39 is misleading and violates state election laws.
Prop 39, a voter ID measure, initially had the title “Establishes additional voter identification and citizenship verification requirements,” which proponents used last year to gather signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.
On July 3, Bonta’s office changed the title to “Prohibits citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification.”
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court, the campaign argued that the new title is inaccurate and violates the law requiring the attorney general to “give a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the measure.”
The group also claimed the revised title omits a key aspect of the measure, which would create new responsibilities for the state and counties to maintain accurate voter rolls and verify citizenship.
“Whether you support or oppose this measure, voters deserve a ballot description that is accurate and impartial,” the Yes on 39 campaign said in a statement.
The lawsuit also names Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber and asks the court to compel state officials to correct the title before ballots and voter information guides are printed.
San Diego Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, who is leading the effort on the ballot measure, criticized the change in an interview on California Politics 360.
“What happened is corruption, deception at the hands of a Sacramento politician who’s gotten away with it for so many years,” DeMaio said. “Rob Bonta has decided to try to rig the election against Prop 39 by changing at the last minute the ballot title to try to manipulate voters into voting no on what ordinarily would be a 70% supported issue.”
DeMaio argued that the original title accurately reflected the measure’s intent, which he described as requiring voter ID and citizenship verification for voter registration.
“Nothing in our initiative prohibits citizens from voting,” he said. “In fact, we’re trying to protect citizen votes from being canceled out by illegitimate or illegal votes.”
He also accused Bonta of attempting to confuse voters.
“The ballot title is absolutely inaccurate,” DeMaio said. “It’s designed to rig the election to produce a no vote. It’s designed to scare voters into voting no, through deception, through dishonesty.”
Bonta defended his actions, stating that he believes the revised title will hold up in court and that the changes were legal. He noted that he was responsible for writing titles and summaries for nine ballot measures and made changes to all of them.
“It is fully compliant. It meets our obligations. It is more helpful to voters. It is more accurate. It is more informative,” Bonta said. “Our office is duty-bound to provide an impartial, descriptive, fair, accurate description of the measure, and we did that for Prop 39.”
Sacramento Superior Court will take the initial steps in addressing the lawsuit, but election-related cases like this often end up before the California Supreme Court.
The Yes on 39 campaign is requesting a decision by Aug. 10.
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