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California Prop 39: What the voter ID measure may change & where it fits in the national battle
LAist's Jill Replogle shares what she’s learned from the author of Prop 39, its opponents and election experts.
This initiative would change California’s constitution to require voters to provide a government-issued ID when they cast a ballot. Mail-in voters would have to include the last four digits of their ID on the ballot envelope. The measure would also require election officials to use “best efforts,” using government data to verify that voters on registration rolls are U.S. citizens, and to report annually the percentage verified.
What to keep in mind about these numbers
- For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.
- Has your ballot been tallied yet? You can track the status of your ballot here.
- Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. The upshot: Ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days of the election and that window contributes to the lag time before results are announced.
- In L.A. County, for example, daily updates on the counting are expected to take place at least once a day — usually around 5 p.m. — through Nov. 13. (There will be multiple updates on Nov. 5 and 6.) Then, the once-a-day counts will resume again on Nov. 17, 19, 25 and 27. The office is scheduled to certify election results by Friday, Nov. 27. In Orange County, there will be multiple updates after the polls close, and then daily updates weekdays at 5 p.m. until results are scheduled to be certified on or before Dec. 3.
- The California Secretary of State is scheduled to certify the election results on Dec. 11.
- Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will rely on official results and report when candidates concede. Otherwise, we rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here and here.
Wondering how we got here? Here's the backstory to this race:
What’s at stake?
Voter ID. This would be a big change from how voting currently works in California.
Right now, election officials verify a voter’s identity when they register to vote. They also verify that the signature on a voter’s mail-in ballot matches the signature in their voter registration file.
But voters do not have to provide ID every time they cast a ballot.
Prop. 39 would change that and require voters to present a government-issued ID every time they vote.
The initiative would also shrink the long list of documents the state currently accepts as proof of identity and residency for voting purposes. If Prop. 39 passes, only government-issued IDs, such as a driver’s license, passport, or state ID card, would be accepted.
The measure would require California to offer free state ID cards to eligible voters who lack another type of government-issued ID.
Official title on the ballot: Prop. 39: Prohibits citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification
Language you will see:
Invalidates mail ballots that do not have last four digits of designated government-issued identification number written on envelope. Prohibits in-person voting without presenting government-issued identification. Fiscal Impact: Costs of between tens of millions of dollars and low hundreds of millions of dollars each year to implement new voting requirements.
What your vote means
- A "yes" vote means: Voters would be required to present additional identifying information to elections officials each time they vote.
- A "no" vote means: A voter’s identity would continue to be established with the voter’s signature.
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Voters will decide whether to increase property taxes to fund the city Fire Department's needs, including upgrading aging infrastructure. -
The measure would pave the way for California to prepare for leaner times. -
Here's a look at key Los Angeles and Orange County state senate races on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Understanding Prop. 39
Currently, when someone registers to vote in California, they do not have to provide proof of citizenship. Rather, they have to check a box on their registration form attesting to being a U.S. citizen and California resident.
Lying on that form is a crime (perjury) punishable by fines and jail time.
Prop. 39 wouldn’t change that process.
What it would do is require election officials to make “best efforts” to verify the citizenship of people on voter registration rolls by cross-referencing their information against government data.
Why now?
According to a recent UC Berkeley poll, just 22% of California Republicans surveyed have confidence in the election system, compared to 88% of Democrats. The two Republican legislators who proposed Prop. 39 see it as a step toward remedying that distrust.
President Donald Trump has also increasingly cast doubt on the integrity of elections across the U.S., including the claim that large numbers of noncitizens are voting. Efforts to find and prosecute noncitizen voters have thus far turned up few culprits.
But there have been a handful of recent cases in the news of noncitizens registering to vote, including a Honduran green card-holder who was charged with voter fraud in August. Last year, an election integrity activist in Orange County was charged with fraud for registering and voting for her dog.
Here’s what supporters say
- Supporters of Prop. 39 say requiring voter ID is a common sense reform to increase trust in the electoral process while maintaining voter conveniences including mail-in ballots. Supporters note that polling has found widespread support for voter ID across political parties. They also say using a voter’s signature on their mail-in ballot to verify identity, as California currently does, delays election results and causes some valid voters to have their ballots rejected.
- Notable supporters: California Republican Party, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, U.S. Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41), Republican state Senator. Tony Strickland (Huntington Beach), Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (San Diego).
Here’s what opponents say
- Opponents of Prop. 39 note that documented voter fraud is extremely rare. They say the initiative feeds into Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud, and would unfairly shut out eligible voters who make simple mistakes, like mixing up their ID number when writing it on their ballot envelope. They also say the federal government’s current system for verifying state voters’ eligibility is prone to error.
- Notable opposition: California Democratic Party, UCLA Voting Rights Project, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, California Labor Federation
Potential financial impact
The state Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that implementing Prop. 39 could cost anywhere from tens of millions to several hundred million dollars. Read the full analysis here.
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Election day is just around the corner, get your notepads and pencils ready — it’s time for a one-hour cram session. -
Sharpen your pencils and get out your notebooks — it’s time for a cram session! -
LAist reporter Cato Hernández has been covering judicial elections since 2022 and they will help you navigate these particularly challenging pages on your ballot.
What it takes to win
A majority is needed to pass.
Watch the ballot cram session analysis
Campaign financing
Go deeper
- Read the full text of the initiative here.
- Prop 39 official voter guide
- Proposition 39 author says ballot initiative ‘not the same’ as Trump’s efforts to constrict voting
- Legislative Analyst’s Office report
- Yes on Prop 39 website
- No on Prop 39 website
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