Billionaires across the US are spending vast sums to support California’s Proposition 39, a measure that would require voters to show identification before casting their ballots.
The measure is being promoted as a way to “[increase] trust and confidence in our elections”, and comes amid a nationwide push by the Trump administration to restrict voting. California Republicans have long sought to advance a voter ID initiative in the state.
The campaign has received more than $36m, according to a report from CalMatters, including $17m from Richard Uihlein, a prominent conservative donor and owner of a shipping supply company. Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb and Trump administration official, has given $8m, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Nicole Shanahan have also made significant donations. The yes campaign has far outraised its opponents by as much as $13m, according to CalMatters.
California voters do not currently have to show identification at the polls, but are required to provide a driver’s license or state identification number or their partial social security number when registering to vote. In addition to requiring ID at the polls, Prop 39 would also mandate that mail ballots include the last four digits of a government-issued ID number on an envelope.
The Republican lawmaker Carl DeMaio authored the proposition after unsuccessfully fighting in California’s Democratic-dominated statehouse to advance legislation implementing voter ID requirements in response to a demand from Trump. He has argued the initiative could be a bright spot for Republicans in an election where the party is expected to see significant losses.
“It’s not the same as the Trump Save Act. It is a more nuanced, balanced approach customized for California. It keeps mail-in ballots, but requires citizenship verification, requires voter ID,” DeMaio recently said. “This is a gamechanger.”
The state Democratic party, the ACLU and the League of Women Voters oppose the measure.
Supporters have said the proposition has bipartisan support.
A recent poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that Prop 39 was losing some of the support it had attracted in late summer and was trailing by a 13-point margin. But other polls from late September showed it with a lead. A bilingual statewide survey of 600 Latino likely voters in early August found they were evenly divided on the measure.