The Campaign Against Voter Id In California Is Off To A Slow Start

SACRAMENTO, California — California Democrats and their allies have yet to stand up a campaign against a Republican voter identification ballot measure. They insist it’s coming.

“We are looking at this from when is the timing for when we will be most effective, when we need to hit the ground,” said David Trujillo, executive director of ACLU California Action. “And right now we are confident that by launching post-primary that we will have the time, we will have the resources to defeat this measure.”

But an emerging opposition effort, made up of civil liberties and progressive groups, doesn’t even have $1 million in the bank. The labor giants that helped bankroll Democrats’ Proposition 50 gerrymandering drive have come out against the voter ID measure, but they haven’t yet committed to funding the opposition. And Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state’s most prominent Democrat and the face of last year’s redistricting campaign, has yet to take a position on the measure.

The initiative — which would require voters to provide proof of ID at polling places and when using mail-in ballots — officially qualified for the ballot last week. Just days later, the Supreme Court gutted part of the federal Voting Rights Act, the watershed civil rights-era law that empowered disenfranchised voters of color across the country.

It would seem like the perfect time for Democrats to take a stand against Republican state lawmaker Carl DeMaio after years of shutting down his voting fraud allegations in Sacramento — and President Donald Trump, who has been demanding the passage of a related federal measure. That legislation is tied up in Congress, but Republicans used to being almost powerless in a deep-blue state see an opening in a frenetic June primary season that’s sucking up interest groups’ attention and money.

“It’s not one singular issue where they can put their money in one little spot, unlike Prop 50,” said GOP state Sen. Tony Strickland, who’s working on the Yes campaign with DeMaio.

Polling on voter ID shows it’s a broadly popular concept across political parties, even in California. A Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey released last month showed 56 percent of voters polled supported the California voter ID measure and 39 percent opposed it when shown a basic description.

“Look at the damn polling!” was DeMaio’s response to Playbook’s questions about how proponents plan to sell voter ID to Democrats.

“Almost half of the signatures for the voter ID initiative came from independents and Democrats,” he added, “So really, the burden of proof is on you to substantiate the framing of your question, which I think is untethered from reality.”

Nationally, roughly half of Americans — 48 percent — say they support imposing stricter photo ID requirements at polling stations that demonstrate citizenship, not just identity, according to The POLITICO Poll conducted in mid-April. Just 21 percent of Americans oppose such requirements, while 31 percent say they either don't know or are unsure.

Support is far higher among 2024 Trump voters, with 73 percent backing such a measure. But a notable share of Harris voters — 35 percent — also support it, even as 38 percent oppose.

Opponents, meanwhile, point to polling that shows partisan messaging highlighting Trump’s embrace of voter ID drags down support for the measure. The president’s federal SAVE Act goes further than the California measure, requiring voters to prove their citizenship when they register to vote. Trump hasn’t yet taken a position on the California measure.

The same Berkeley IGS survey from last month asked voters about the initiative in the context of DeMaio’s voter fraud concerns and Democratic arguments linking it to Trump. Thirty-nine percent of voters supported the measure with the addition of that information, and 52 percent opposed it.

But that assumes Democrats eventually compile the resources to come out swinging. This includes bringing prominent figures like Newsom on board. Asked about his position on the voter ID measure, his team pointed to a “This is Gavin Newsom” podcast conversation about voting rights and the SAVE Act with South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. But the two never discuss the California ballot measure.

Trujillo predicted the campaign can get high-profile Democrats like Newsom to fight the measure. He said the opposition campaign’s degree of difficulty is not high.

“If the polling was showing that we had to go very deep to start turning opinion on this measure, we would be raising money with much more urgency at this moment,” Trujillo said. “The second you start informing people that this is part of a broader MAGA agenda to suppress votes across the country, you see folks seeing this for what it is: voter suppression.”

However, others within the coalition are starting to raise concerns.

Michael Gomez-Daly, political director for California Donor Table, said the No side will need to match the Yes side “dollar for dollar.”

“It needs to be very large,” he said of the fundraising effort. “We’re taking it very seriously, so the intent is to raise serious dollars.”

Jeremy B. White and Erin Doherty contributed to this report.