Top California Democratic lawmakers challenge Prop 39 claims in voter guide about voter ID measure
California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and California Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón are taking legal action to block language submitted to the state’s voter guide about the Proposition 39 voter ID ballot measure.
The top Democratic lawmakers are calling for “false or misleading” language to be stripped from arguments in favor of Prop 39, the rebuttal to the argument against Prop 39, and the ballot argument summary before the state’s voter guide is printed ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.
Prop 39 would prohibit citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification and require state and local elections officials to make “best efforts” using government data to verify that voters on the rolls are U.S. citizens, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. It would also require elections officials to report each year the percentage of registered voters in each county whose citizenship has been verified.
In addition, the measure would require voters to present government-issued ID when registering to vote by mail. Voters would have to present their ID if voting in person or provide the last four digits of their ID number on the ballot envelope when voting by mail.
The measure would also require the state to provide a voter ID card for free to voters who request one.
The Democrats’ lawsuit notes the LAO said the measure would increase state and local government costs by “tens of millions of dollars to low hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“Proposition 39’s supporters would have California voters believe otherwise,” the lawsuit says.
In a press release, Rivas and Limón said Prop 39 “is the brainchild of MAGA activists, including Carl DeMaio and his so-called Reform California network, who have a long history of supporting campaigns to help Trump and attack voting rights.”
The press release also claims that Trump “endorsed the Prop 39 in January 2025, shortly after it launched.”
While Trump has called for voter ID requirements and Prop 39’s backer, Sen. Carl DeMaio, announced in January 2025 legislation that he said would fulfill that, Trump has not specifically endorsed Prop 39.
Another lawsuit related to Prop 39
The new lawsuit comes after Prop 39’s proponents filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alleging that his revised ballot title for the measure is misleading and violates state election laws.
It 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 that 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.
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.
DeMaio, who is leading the effort on the ballot measure, accused Bonta of trying to “scare voters into voting no.”
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.”
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.
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