UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said that both the SAVE Act and proposed ballot measure in California are not only unnecessary, but harmful to democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth are aimed at solving problems that don\u2019t exist,\u201d Chemerinsky said. \u201cThere is no evidence of a problem of non-citizens voting. Nor is there evidence of significant fraud with voters casting votes under false names. But both would limit who can vote. As for the SAVE Act, many people don\u2019t have a birth certificate or passport.\u201d<\/p>\n
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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaks during a news conference on Feb. 11 at the U.S. Capitol. Johnson was joined by Republicans to speak about the passage of the SAVE America Act, an election bill backed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and require photo identification at the ballot box. <\/p>\n
(Michael M. Santiago \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), who supports and voted for the SAVE Act, said it is a simple way to restore voter confidence in elections. But he said the bill\u2019s fate appears grim.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think they have the votes,\u201d Calvert said Friday. <\/p>\n
Which is why, Calvert says, California must join other states and enact commonsense voter ID and citizenship requirements that can attract bipartisan support. The longtime Republican congressman said he does not believe there has been widespread voter fraud in the U.S., or a that a flood of noncitizens has been voting, but that does not mean those have not happened to some degree and would sway both tightly contested local elections and congressional races. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always said it\u2019s probably a small amount, but it\u2019s enough to change an outcome of elections, and could change the numbers we have in Congress,\u201d Calvert said. <\/p>\n
The California ballot measure<\/p>\n
The petitions being submitted for the California Voter ID Initiative will be reviewed by county election officials, who must verify that the people who signed are registered voters in the state and that the proponents collected at least the 874,641 valid signatures required to qualify for the November ballot.<\/p>\n
The ballot measure will make significant changes to how Californians vote, and enact new mandates on county elections officials. Among the top changes being proposed:<\/p>\n
Every time a voter casts a ballot in person in any election in California, they must present government-issued identification.Californians voting by mail will be required to list on the ballot envelope the last four digits of a \u201cunique identifying number from a government issued identification\u201d \u2014 essentially a pin number like people use at an ATM \u2014 that matches the one the voter designated when they registered to vote.The California secretary of state and county election officials will be required to verify that registered voters are U.S. citizens by \u201cusing government data,\u201d which according to supporters could include information in the federal Social Security Administration database, jury summons information and other government records.The secretary of state and county election officials must maintain accurate voter registration lists.If requested, the state would be required to a provide eligible voters with free voter identification cards for use during elections. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re creating the legal obligation that in California, when we do voting, we want our election officers to actually give a damn about whether someone\u2019s a citizen,\u201d said Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego), one of the main forces behind the proposed ballot measure. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re asking. That\u2019s why voters support this, because it\u2019s not a burden on the voter. It really is a burden on the election officers to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Republican](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772450050_138_.jpeg\")
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Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of San Diego speaks at a press conference in July to announce a campaign to require voter identification in California. <\/p>\n
(Tran Nguyen \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
But Jenny Farrell, executive director of the League of Women Voters of California, called the proposed ballot measure an underhanded attempt by Trump and Republicans to make it even harder for people in the state to vote \u2014 which they see as a political advantage. The Californians who will suffer the most are \u201ccommunities of color, people with disabilities, elderly folks, folks who move around a lot, folks who have recently experienced a name change.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia elections are already secure. This initiative isn\u2019t really about election integrity. It\u2019s part of this broader national playbook from President Trump and the current federal administration to make voting harder and to create doubts in the minds of the public and to really sow chaos on election day,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cThe measure would create new strict barriers for eligible voters. It could wrongfully flag naturalized citizens, and it will create new ways to challenge results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noncitizens who vote in California risk being charged with a felony and deported, she said.<\/p>\n
Farrell\u2019s organization has joined with the ACLU of Northern and Southern California, Common Cause, Disability Rights California and other groups to oppose the proposed measure. <\/p>\n
The nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office estimates the new requirements under the proposed ballot measure could potentially cost state and local governments \u201ctens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars\u201d annually.<\/a> <\/p>\n What\u2019s the law now in California?<\/p>\n