Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has cut a seven-figure check to block a California ballot measure that would establish strict ID requirements for voters.
The media boss gave $1 million towards the effort to stop Prop. 39, which would require voters to provide proof of citizenship and personal identification in order to vote — which backers claim is necessary to stamp out voter fraud.
Hastings’ donation came on Sept. 3, according to Secretary of State records, as California Dems rally against Prop. 39.
Fifty-five percent of California voters were opposed the voter ID measure in a just-released Public Policy Institute of California poll, while 43% supported it.
“California politicians are getting special interests to bankroll their dishonest smear campaign against Prop 39, but in the end we are confident voters will vote YES on Prop 39 because it is truly the bipartisan solution for Voter ID to restore trust in our democracy,” said Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio in a statement.
Prop. 39 was placed on the ballot in response to concerns about potential weaknesses in the voting system alongside a federal bid for tighter voting requirements by President Donald Trump.
The measure, supported by The Transparency Foundation, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and an array of Republican officials, would require voters to show government ID to vote in person. It would also ask those who vote by mail to provide the last four digits of a piece of identification on their ballots in order to verify their eligibility.
Prop. 39’s opponents, such as the ACLU California Action, League of Women Voters and many high-level Dems in the state, claim it would place undue restrictions on voting and expose voters to identity theft.
There is no evidence of widespread fraud in California’s voting system, but the state’s excruciating pace of counting votes — it has taken days or even weeks to determine final tallies, thanks to lax mail voting timelines — have fueled suspicious about possible flaws in the system.
Additionally, reports of fraud among petition workers who gather signatures to help get initiatives on the ballot drawn negative attention onto California’s voting system.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in June he launched investigations into voting issues.
“California’s election system has serious structural vulnerabilities. Universal vote-by-mail with no voter ID requirements creates conditions where fraud can go undetected and unpunished, eroding public confidence,” Essayli wrote on X.
Prop. 39 supporters also accused Attorney General Rob Bonta of deliberating watering down the ballot title for the proposition in order to confuse voters.
Hastings is one of California’s most active billionaire political donors, giving $3 million to help block the attempted recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 and contributing tens of millions in total to politicians of both parties since 2001, according to state records.
