> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.workersrights.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # California voters rejected Prop 39's voter ID rules. Mail ballots stay safe from ID-number mismatches. - URL: https://www.workersrights.news/california-voters-reject-prop-39-voter-id-measure/ - Published: 2026-11-04T18:17:32.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T18:17:32.000Z - Description: The $37 million measure, bankrolled by out-of-state GOP donors, was failing 58.6% to 41.6% when AP called it. - Author: WorkersRights.News Team - Tags: Politics California voters on Tuesday rejected Proposition 39, a Republican-backed constitutional amendment that would have barred anyone from casting a regular ballot without government-issued identification. Democracy Docket reported the measure failing 58.6% to 41.6% in early returns, and CalMatters put the no vote at about 60%. The Associated Press called the race, News 8 reported, and CBS News also projected the measure's defeat. California counts ballots for weeks, so the margin will shift, but the ID rules will not enter the state constitution. ### What Prop 39 would have done The measure would have required in-person voters to show government-issued ID. Mail voters, who cast about 13 million of California's roughly 16 million ballots in 2024, would have had to write the last four digits of a government ID number on their ballot envelope, according to the nonpartisan [Legislative Analyst's Office](https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=39&year=2026&ref=workersrights.news). Election officials would then compare that number with the voter's registration, and a mismatch could keep a ballot from counting, Democracy Docket reported. Prop 39 also ordered officials to make "best efforts" to verify every registered voter's citizenship and report the results each year, and it promised a free state voter ID card. Lawmakers would have decided later which IDs count. The LAO estimated the cost at "tens of millions of dollars to low hundreds of millions of dollars" a year. The LAO also said the state might save some money because fewer people would be registered, including "eligible voters lacking government-issued identification." In other words, the state's own budget analysts expected some legal voters to drop off the rolls. Under current law, voters prove who they are when they register, with a driver's license, state ID number or partial Social Security number, and mail ballots are checked by signature. ### Who paid for it, and who fought it Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio of San Diego and his group Reform California put the measure on the ballot after earlier attempts failed in the Legislature. The California Republican Party and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association backed it. Backers said ID would deter fraud and build confidence in elections, noting that 36 other states have ID laws. The yes side raised about $37 million, CalMatters reported, including $17 million from Illinois packaging billionaire Richard Uihlein and $8 million from Airbnb co-founder and White House official Joe Gebbia. Businessman Steven Bray and Reform California each put in more than $3 million. The opposition raised about $35 million. The California Democratic Party gave nearly $6.5 million, and California labor and tribal groups each gave more than $2 million. ACLU California Action, Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of California led the coalition against it. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Adam Schiff and Gov.-elect Xavier Becerra campaigned against it, and Becerra formed a fundraising committee with Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. "It was an absolutely unnecessary ballot measure," David Trujillo, executive director of ACLU California Action, told CalMatters on Tuesday night. "California voters saw it for what it was, which was an attempt to disenfranchise voters in this state." Experts broadly agree voter fraud is rare in California, CalMatters reported, and Secretary of State Shirley Weber has called such claims unfounded. ### Who would have been shut out The voters most at risk were people whose paperwork doesn't line up perfectly. Opponents pointed to people who recently moved or changed their last name and don't have an updated ID yet. That describes many working people: renters who move for a cheaper lease or a new job, newlyweds, and students voting away from home. For mail voters, a wrong digit or an outdated ID number on the envelope could have kept a ballot from counting. ### The national push isn't over Prop 39 came as President Trump presses for voter ID nationwide. In February he posted, "There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!" [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/trump-vows-voter-id-requirements-midterms-rcna259018?ref=workersrights.news) reported. That same week, the House passed the SAVE America Act, which would require photo ID at the polls and in-person proof of citizenship to register, with every Republican voting yes. It needed 60 votes in the Senate. In January, a federal judge permanently blocked Trump's March 2025 election order, ruling that the president can't rewrite election procedures on his own. The Justice Department also sued California in October, claiming more than 20,000 noncitizens were registered, which the state called "unsubstantiated." U.S. District Judge David O. Carter refused to let the department set those ballots aside, citing doubts about the reliability of its data, an appeals court agreed, and [the Supreme Court rejected Trump's bid](https://www.workersrights.news/supreme-court-rejects-trump-bid-set-aside-20000-california-ballots/) too. Any new national ID push now runs through a Congress where [Democrats won the House](https://www.workersrights.news/democrats-win-house-working-people-check-on-trump/) on Tuesday. In California, voters will keep confirming who they are with their registration and their signature. If you voted by mail, your county elections office can tell you whether your ballot was counted. ### Sources - [California voters reject sweeping anti-voting ballot measure](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/california-voters-reject-sweeping-anti-voting-ballot-measure/?ref=workersrights.news), Democracy Docket - [California voters reject conservative voter ID proposal](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/11/california-election-2026-prop-39/?ref=workersrights.news), CalMatters - [California voters reject Proposition 39's proposed voter ID requirements, CBS News projects](https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/california-proposition-39-voter-id-requirements/?ref=workersrights.news), CBS Sacramento - [Prop 39 fails as California voters reject voter ID measure, per AP](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/prop-39-fails-california-voters-062554129.html?ref=workersrights.news), News 8 via Yahoo News - [Proposition 39 analysis](https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=39&year=2026&ref=workersrights.news), California Legislative Analyst's Office - [Trump vows voter ID requirements for the midterms, 'whether approved by Congress or not'](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/trump-vows-voter-id-requirements-midterms-rcna259018?ref=workersrights.news), NBC News