California measure requiring photo ID at polls will be on November ballot | California
California voters will decide whether photo identification will be required to vote in November; That would make California the latest battleground in conservatives’ long-running efforts to enact voter ID laws, which have been bolstered in recent years by Donald Trump’s repeated and baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud.
Almost 1 million Californians signed in support of the ballot measure championed by Republican state Rep. Carl DeMaio of San Diego.
“Voters will be able to restore election integrity in our state, verify citizenship, audit voter rolls and, yes, require ID to vote,” DeMaio said. he said in a video description sent to x
Democrats have historically opposed voter ID laws, viewing them as unnecessary barriers to voting that are likely to disproportionately affect low-income and voters of color.
If the ballot measure passes, California voters will be required to present photo identification when voting at a polling place or submit a four-digit PIN when sending a mail ballot.
Efforts to impose voter ID in blue California have failed in the past. A. Survey published last month But a survey by the Institute of Government Studies at the University of California at Berkeley found that voters are deadlocked on the issue, with 44 percent supporting it, 45 percent opposing it and the rest undecided.
California is one of 14 states, along with the District of Columbia, that do not require voters to show identification when voting. According to NBC News.
California voter ID crackdown draws national attention and money from Republicans, along with ballot measure committee It raised $8.8 million last yearAccording to Politico. Rivals are just getting started organize a campaign in order not to pass.
The referendum in California comes as the White House is demanding stricter federal requirements for voting. Embers requested last week Congress to eliminate fraud so Republicans can pass the Save America Act, which would impose a federal requirement to show proof of citizenship to vote.
Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed to a law On April 1, a state bill modeled after the stalled federal law.
Opponents of voter ID laws have repeatedly challenged the law in federal court.
Last month, U.S. district judge Loretta Biggs approved North Carolina’s 2018 voter ID law after facing challenges from civil rights groups he said it would happen It unconstitutionally violates the voting rights of blacks and Latinos.
In a separate case last year, the ninth U.S. appeals court removed key provisions Number of voter ID laws passed in Arizona in 2022 find this Many of the challenged provisions are “unlawful measures of voter suppression.”
