Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio of San Diego, center, speaks during a press conference on Monday announcing the submission of 1.35 million signatures to put voter ID on the November 2026 ballot. Courtesy image
Note: The audio podcast was generated through Google Notebook LM. Sources include the California Attorney General and Legislative Analyst offices, Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, opposition groups, peer-reviewed studies, Politico, Fox News and media reports.
SACRAMENTO — Supporters of a proposed state constitutional amendment to require voter identification in California submitted 1.35 million signatures to the Secretary of State on Monday.
Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), who also heads the conservative Reform California, announced the milestone during a press conference, saying the measure has broad bipartisan support and will bring trust to state elections. California has long resisted voter ID requirements, but now the submission triggers a county-by-county verification process, which must be completed by May for the measure to qualify for the November ballot.
Opponents, though, sharply and quickly dispute many of DeMaio’s claims and the underlying premise of the campaign. They argue voter ID laws suppress participation, especially among minority populations. Voting rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the League of Women Voters of California and others, say the measure would expose sensitive voter data, increase ballot rejection rates and disproportionately burden voters of color, seniors, low-income residents and people who move.
“Divisive politicians with partisan agendas will try to politicize this effort, but the fact remains that over 70 percent of voters, including a majority of Democrat voters, support the initiative, and nearly half of the 1.35 million signatures we collected came from Democrats and Independents,” DeMaio said. “We look forward to expanding this bipartisan reform movement as we enter the passage phase of the campaign.”
DeMaio, Reform California, Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach), and Donald DiCostanzo of Californians for Voter ID began the signature collection drive on Oct. 1, 2025, and it was powered by more than 18,000 volunteers, he said. The effort requires 874,641 verified signatures to qualify.
The proposed ballot language includes the following:
Require voters casting ballots in person to present government-issued photo identification.
Require voters using vote-by-mail ballots to provide the last four digits of a government-issued ID number that matches their voter registration record.
Mandate election officials use government data to verify the citizenship of registered voters.
Require annual reporting on the percentage of voter rolls verified for citizenship in each county.
Require the state to provide free voter ID cards upon request.