By admin 
One of the most contentious ballot measures this year is Proposition 39, a proposed constitutional amendment that would require Californians produce government-issued identification to vote.
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Under the measure, voters would need to show a government ID each time they vote in person. For vote-by-mail, voters would be required to write the last four digits of a unique ID number — such as a driver’s license number — on the envelope they mail in. If voters don’t currently have a valid ID, the proposition requires the state to create a free voter identification card to voters who request one.
The measure also would require election officials to make their best efforts to verify voters’ citizenship using government data. They’d then publish annual data showing how much of each county’s voter roll has had citizenship verified.
That’s a significant shift from current California law, which relies on voters attesting under penalty of perjury that they are citizens when registering, and generally does not require ID at the polls, except for some first-time voters who registered without providing proof of identity.
The arguments for Prop. 39
Backers, led by Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, say the proposal is a commonsense way to restore public trust in elections. They argue it will help hold officials accountable for accurate, updated voter rolls.
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And while the proposition is spearheaded by DeMaio, arguably the Legislature’s most outspoken conservative, and financed in part by a number of right-leaning billionaire backers, its supporters say it is a bipartisan measure that is disconnected from President Donald Trump.
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“Politicians and partisan organizations who oppose Prop. 39 are desperately trying to inject toxic partisanship into this debate,” said Californians for Voter ID, a main group backing the measure, in their statement in the state voter guide. “That’s because they benefit from unfounded election conspiracy theories and rapidly declining trust in our elections.”
The arguments against Prop. 39
Critics — including civil rights groups and almost all elected Democrats — say the real cause of that distrust is Trump. The president has repeatedly questioned the integrity of federal elections that courts and independent auditors have found to be free and fair.
Opponents argue voter ID is a barrier that could disenfranchise eligible voters, particularly people without IDs, people who’ve moved and unhoused voters. And they’ve argued the measure purports to solve a problem that doesn’t really exist. Nonpartisan research has consistently found noncitizen voting is vanishingly rare.
“MAGA extremists want to use your taxpayer dollars to buy Trump an expensive gift: blocking eligible voters and giving the Big Lie a win in California,” said a coalition opposed to the measure that includes U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, in their voter guide statement. “We won’t fall for it.”
State analysts estimate the measure would cost tens of millions to implement, with ongoing annual costs ranging from tens of millions into the low hundreds of millions.
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