A growing coalition of civil rights and community organizations today announced their opposition to a proposed voter ID initiative that would impose sweeping new restrictions on how every Californian casts their ballot and harm communities that already face obstacles to voting.

“This voter ID measure is not about protecting voters; it is about importing the current federal administration’s election lies and intimidation tactics into California,” said Jenny Farrell, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of California. “It would expose voters’ sensitive personal information, create new ways to reject eligible ballots, and wrongly target voters through error-prone citizenship checks.”

California’s elections are already secure. Elections officials verify voter identity at every stage of the process — at registration, at check-in, and during ballot processing. Voters’ signatures are verified on every mail ballot.

“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.

Yet echoing election lies by the Trump administration, proponents are submitting signatures on Monday to put a constitutional amendment to require voter ID on the November 2026 ballot. There is absolutely no evidence of widespread voter impersonation or non-citizen voting to justify requiring additional ID.

If it were to pass, the roughly 80% of California voters who vote by mail would be required to write the last four digits of a government-issued ID number on the outside of their mail ballot envelope. Those digits would pass through many hands and then sit in election records for almost two years, creating real exposure for identity theft for millions of voters. Further, a simple fixable error like a wrong digit, or forgetting to include the ID, could cause someone’s ballot to be disqualified.

Those voting in person would be required to show a driver’s license or other government issued ID. That would create long lines at polls and increase the risk of eligible voters being turned away. Many voters will not have an ID at the time of an election. Meanwhile, name changes, frequent moves, and housing instability create additional ID traps for eligible voters. ”This measure wouldn’t just hurt voters who are already underrepresented — it would make voting harder for the vast majority of Californians who cast their ballots by mail,” said Brittany Stonesifer, Senior Voting Rights & Redistricting Program Manager for California Common Cause. “As our elections are under threat at the federal level, California must protect access to the ballot box, not block it off.”

The voter ID measure would also require currently registered voters to have their citizenship re-verified using government databases that can often contain errors or incomplete information.

Numerous studies — from the Brennan Center to the Cato Institute to the Bipartisan Policy Center — confirm that voter impersonation and noncitizen voting are exceedingly rare. An analysis of the Heritage Foundation’s own database found only 77 documented instances of noncitizen voting over more than 20 years, out of billions of ballots cast.

This initiative is part of a coordinated national strategy, advanced by President Trump and his allies to make voting harder.

“Reform California is pushing this onerous policy to revive regressive laws not seen since the Jim Crow era,” said Ludovic Blain, Chief Executive Officer of the California Donor Table. “Californians are committed to building an inclusive democracy where every voice is heard and every vote is counted, regardless of the hurdles extremist groups try to put in our path.”

If the measure qualifies, the coalition pledges to defeat it.

“This initiative creates new barriers that will fall hardest on Californians with disabilities,” said Andy Imparato, Chief Executive Officer of Disability Rights California. “And for the millions who vote by mail, adding an ID number requirement to the envelope turns voting into a bureaucratic obstacle course.”

“For many Asian American and naturalized citizens, this isn’t an abstract policy debate, it’s a direct threat to our ability to participate in democracy,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Law Caucus. “California should be expanding access to the ballot, not importing voter suppression tactics.”

The coalition highlights that California’s real challenge is increasing voter participation and ensuring that bad actors don’t try to steal elections by blocking valid ballots. The state’s focus should be on bringing more voices into our democracy, not erecting barriers to shut eligible voters out.

The coalition includes the following groups who invite others to join in this opposition campaign:

• ACLU of Northern California
• ACLU of Southern California
• League of Women Voters of California
• California Common Cause
• Asian Law Caucus
• California Donor Table
• Disability Rights California

For more information, read our one-page fact sheet.

The coalition is forming a campaign committee registered with the Fair Political Practices Commission to oppose the measure.