According to a Fox News report, a ballot initiative requiring voter identification and limiting voting to U.S. citizens has cleared a major hurdle in California, with organizers saying they submitted far more signatures than required to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
The group Reform California said it delivered roughly 1.3 million signatures to county election officials for the proposed “California Voter ID Initiative,” well above the roughly 875,000 signatures needed to place the measure before voters.
Organizers say the petition effort drew support from voters across the state’s political spectrum and from residents in all 58 counties.
If approved by voters, the measure would amend the California Constitution to require voter identification when casting ballots, mandate verification of citizenship for registered voters and require election officials to maintain updated and accurate voter rolls.
Supporters argue the proposal would strengthen trust in the state’s election system while bypassing the Democratic supermajority in the state legislature.
“Polling overwhelmingly shows a supermajority consensus for voter ID requirements,” said Carl DeMaio, a Republican who chairs Reform California.
“It’s common sense,” DeMaio said. “If you need an ID to board an airplane or buy a pack of cigarettes or buy a case of beer, you should make it pretty easy to use an ID to vote in an election. This is not hard, it’s not rocket science, it’s quite simple.”
In announcing the signature submission, DeMaio described the proposal as a “common-sense and bipartisan way to restore the trust and confidence all voters should have in the election system.”
He said nearly half of the roughly 1.35 million signatures gathered came from Democrats and independent voters.
Despite the bipartisan backing claimed by organizers, DeMaio predicted the initiative could become politically contentious in the months ahead.
“Divisive politicians with partisan agendas will try to politicize this effort,” he said.
“Our measure simply holds government officials accountable to maintain accurate voter lists and verify the identity of individuals casting ballots in our elections.”
DeMaio also argued that voter identification laws in other states have been associated with higher participation rates, including increased turnout among minority voters.
California election officials will now review the submitted signatures to determine whether the initiative qualifies for the statewide ballot in November.