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LOS ANGELES — A proposed statewide measure mandating voters to present photo identification at polling stations has amassed over one million signatures, according to organizers. This milestone suggests it may soon appear on the ballot for public decision.
Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of California, who is spearheading the campaign, announced his goal to gather an additional 200,000 signatures by February 1.
The initiative has garnered support from influential figures in the tech industry, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“The only reason to oppose it is to commit fraud,” Musk expressed on X this past Sunday.
Musk has been a longstanding advocate for implementing voter ID requirements across the United States.
But in California the biggest impact of the voter ID measure would be a provision that requires voters who mail in their ballot to include the last four digits of their ID number.
More than 80% of votes cast in the 2024 election in California were mailed in — compared with about 29% nationwide.
Stephen Richer — the former Maricopa County Recorder in Arizona who was in charge of voter registration and early voting — said he is concerned that the vote-by-mail ID provision could discourage some people from sending in their ballots.
Richer said getting people to support putting sensitive information in the mail could be a “little more complicated.”
“Simply showing a photo ID to vote in person, polls very well across the American political spectrum,” Richer said. “If you start putting other things on it, like in Maine, they just ran a voter ID campaign that lost in the most recent election, because they had other stuff pertaining to mail ballot voting that wasn’t nearly as popular.”
In addition to Musk, the measure has other big-name backers. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called it an “important for the foundation for democracy,” and urged Californians to sign up.
While the initiative has already surpassed the 874,641 signatures needed to make it on the November ballot, organizers are pushing to collect more autographs as an insurance policy in case some are deemed ineligible.
“We’ve now collected about one million signatures toward our 1.2 million signature goal from Californians across the state, but the job isn’t finished yet,” said Julie Luckey, the chair of Californians for Voter ID. “This final stretch is critical, and we need everyone who supports this effort to help us cross the finish line and qualify this measure for the ballot, so every Californian has the opportunity to make their voice heard in November.”
Luckey is the mother of tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, the founder of defense technology company Anduril.
Currently, California is one of 14 states that do not require photo ID to vote.
