An initiative that would beef up ID and proof of citizenship requirements for California voters has submitted enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
The measure will change the California constitution to require ID when casting a ballot and for election officials to verify citizenship of registered voters — and its chief proponent, Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, has launched an “aggressive” campaign to pass the law, according to a press release.
“The California Voter ID Initiative is a common-sense and bipartisan way to restore the trust and confidence all voters should have in our election system,” DeMaio said in a statement Friday.
The campaign filed more than 962,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot, Secretary of State Shirley Weber said Friday.
Voting rights groups have opposed the measure, claiming it will restrict ballot access and add hurdles to voter participation.
“This initiative isn’t about election security, it’s about erecting barriers that will keep eligible Californians from exercising their fundamental right to vote as citizens,” said Abdi Soltani, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California, in a statement opposing the voter ID measure.
However, DeMaio — whose group Reform California launched the voter ID effort — said most voters, even Democrats, support voter ID requirements.
He claimed “nearly half of the 1.35 million signatures we collected to put this common-sense reform on the ballot came from Democrats and Independents.”
