Democrats have resisted any attempt to require voter ID, despite the fact that voter rolls have been shown in the past to include millions of inactive or ineligible voters; despite ineligible voters being registered through the state’s “motor voter” program; and despite public support for a basic ID requirement.
Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law preventing local authorities from requiring photo ID to vote, after the City of Huntington Beach tried to implement it, following the success of a voter ID referendum last March.
On Tuesday, a group of Republican legislators who represent California districts at the federal, state, and local levels released a statement announcing that they were forming a coalition to collect signatures and pass a voter ID initiative.
They said:
A coalition of elected officials and campaign committees have announced their intention to support the qualification of and passage of a Voter ID Initiative in California in the 2026 election. Several members of the coalition also released polling showing overwhelming bipartisan support for a Voter ID Initiative in California – with a super-majority of Republicans and Independents and a majority of even Democratic voters supporting the initiative.
The coalition includes a number of federal, state and local elected officials along with a number of political advocacy groups.
Coalition members revealed that at a minimum the measure would be a state constitutional amendment that requires citizenship verification for all voter registrations and government-issued ID for casting a ballot in an election.
The statement cited a poll indicating support for voter ID in California: “Polling conducted by Public Opinion Strategies in late January for several coalition members showed 68% of voters support passage of a Voter ID law – drawing support of 93% of Republicans, 70% of Independents and 52% of Democratic voters.”
Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Corona) commented on X that the coalition was forced to seek a referendum, because Democrats in Sacramento not only would not pass voter ID, but had also excluded Republicans from committees.
Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) added: “Politicians and the media will keep denying the fact that California has real problems with election integrity, but the message from the public is loud and clear in support of requiring Voter ID as the best way to restore public trust and confidence in our elections.”
President Donald Trump has supported the idea of voter ID in California in the past, stating during a visit in January that he might even make the adoption of voter ID a condition for receiving additional federal aid to deal with the recent wildfires in Los Angeles.
The website for the initiative is californiavoterid.com.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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