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California Voter Identification and Registration Requirements Initiative (2022)
| California Voter Identification and Registration Requirements Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Voting policy measures and Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The California Voter Identification and Registration Requirements Initiative (#21-0021) was not on the ballot in California as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
The ballot measure would have required voters to present a valid and current driver's license or government-issued identification card to vote in-person. To vote by mail, voters would have been required to provide a valid and current driver's license or government-issued identification card number and have their signature match the signature on-file with their voter registration.[1]
The ballot measure would have required residents to provide their social security number in order to register to vote. It would also have required counties to evaluate wait times for voting in person after each election and address "unreasonably long wait times identified in any polling location or voting center."[1]
Under the ballot measure, a citizen could have sought judicial review of the state's or county's performance in complying with the ballot measure itself.[1]
Text of the measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[2]
| “ |
Mandates Government-issued Identification to Vote and Social Security Number to Register. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.[3] |
” |
Petition summary
The summary provided for inclusion on signature petition sheets was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Changes existing voter laws by requiring: (1) in-person voters to present a government-issued identification card; (2) mail-in voters to provide a government-issued identification card number and signature matching their voter file; and (3) all voters to provide a full Social Security number when they register to vote and to verify existing registrations. Amends Constitution to require, consistent with existing state and federal laws, that counties maintain accurate voter registration lists. Requires counties to report in-person voting wait times after each election.[3] |
” |
Fiscal impact
The fiscal impact statement would have been as follows:[2]
| “ |
One-time state and local government costs in the millions of dollars to update voter registrations. Increased annual state and local government costs, potentially in the tens of millions of dollars, to administer elections.[3] |
” |
Full text
The full text is available here.
Path to the ballot
Process in California
In California, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Petitions are allowed to circulate for 180 days from the date the attorney general prepares the petition language. Signatures need to be certified at least 131 days before the general election. As the verification process can take multiple months, the secretary of state provides suggested deadlines for ballot initiatives.
The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 997,139 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was 131 days before the general election, which was around June 30, 2022. However, the process of verifying signatures can take multiple months and proponents are recommended to file signatures at least two months before the verification deadline.
Signatures are first filed with local election officials, who determine the total number of signatures submitted. If the total number is equal to at least 100 percent of the required signatures, then local election officials perform a random check of signatures submitted in their counties. If the random sample estimates that more than 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, the initiative is eligible for the ballot. If the random sample estimates that between 95 and 110 percent of the required number of signatures are valid, a full check of signatures is done to determine the total number of valid signatures. If less than 95 percent are estimated to be valid, the initiative does not make the ballot.
Initiative #21-0021
Carl DeMaio filed the ballot initiative on September 15, 2021.[4] The Attorney General of California issued ballot language for the initiative on November 19, 2021, allowing a signature drive to begin. Signatures were due on May 18, 2022.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 California Attorney General, "Initiative 21-0021," September 15, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 California Secretary of State, "Initiatives and Referenda Cleared for Circulation," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Initiatives," accessed September 16, 2021
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