Republicans in the Senate are arguing over the SAVE America Act — common-sense legislation that would require voter ID and proof of citizenship in federal elections. Numerous polls demonstrate that such laws are overwhelmingly popular among American voters. But while some RINOs are reportedly blocking legitimate efforts to advance the legislation, voters in deep blue California are taking matters into their own hands to safeguard their elections against fraud.
After a months-long, grassroots-driven campaign, GOP State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio and other proponents submitted signatures for the California Voter ID Initiative on Monday. The proposal, which DeMaio said garnered more than 1.3 million signatures, would amend the state’s constitution to require voter ID “for all future elections in California.”
The milestone was reportedly marked by “campaign leaders hold[ing] signature submission rallies in five major media markets across the state, underscoring the broad geographic and bipartisan support behind the initiative.”
DeMaio also chairs Reform California, a PAC focused on reclaiming the state from radical leftism. According to the group, the proposed amendment would mandate government ID for in-person voting and the “last four digits of a government ID” when voting by mail. The initiative would also require election officials to verify citizenship and ensure “that only eligible individuals are registered to vote and receive ballots.” Now that signatures have been submitted for validation, it’s likely the initiative will appear on the California ballot in the midterms this November.
“We’re creating the legal obligation that in California, when we do voting, we want our election officers to actually give a damn about whether someone’s a citizen,” DeMaio said. “That’s what we’re asking. That’s why voters support this, because it’s not a burden on the voter. It really is a burden on the election officers to do their job.”
Grassroots volunteers in California spent less than six months gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures in support of common-sense voter ID and citizenship verification requirements, according to Reform California. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers at the federal level, like John Curtis from Utah, seem to have forgotten how the Senate works. Using rules already in place and forcing the Democrats to participate in a “talking filibuster” would at least allow Republicans to say they exhausted every option in the interest of their constituents and U.S. elections. But even that is too tall an order, apparently, despite election integrity being one of Trump’s primary campaign platforms ahead of the 2024 election, and the Senate having a popular vote mandate to act on it.
Given the fact that Maine voters shot down a constitutional amendment last year requiring voter ID in elections, it’s hard to say whether the initiative in California will pass if it’s on the state ballot this fall. But no matter the outcome, it’s likely Californians may actually vote on these election integrity measures before the Senate does, and that itself is an indictment of our GOP lawmakers.
