California voters turn down new ID law despite $8 million push

California voters rejected Proposition 39 on Tuesday, turning down a plan to require identification at polling places and add checks for mail-in ballots. According to the Associated Press, 60% of voters opposed the measure with roughly half of all ballots counted.

The proposal was championed by Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio and his group, Reform California. DeMaio argued that stricter identification rules are a common-sense method to protect election integrity. He told The California Post that the fight is not over. “Whether voter ID gets done in this election or not, we will not stop until we restore trust and confidence in our elections,” DeMaio said. He added that voter ID will become state law because it is bipartisan.

The campaign gained a large financial advantage in October when Joseph Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder and former Democrat, donated $8 million. This injection gave supporters a cash boost in the final weeks. Other out-of-state backers also provided funds, viewing California as a testing ground for new identification standards in a Democratic state.

Democrats opposed the measure with intensity, linking it to President Donald Trump. Trump remains unpopular in the state. His administration is currently pursuing legal cases against alleged noncitizen voters and is clashing with California officials. The officials refuse to comply with federal demands to audit the state’s voter rolls.

On Monday, the Trump administration made an emergency request to the Supreme Court. The administration asked justices to force California to set aside 20,000 mail-in ballots it claims were sent to noncitizens. The request went to Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee who handles California cases. She denied the application.

Federal prosecutors have charged 28 people with violating federal election laws. Recent polls showed support for the ID measure had fallen below 50%. This raised doubts about the measure’s chances before the vote.

A dispute over the ballot wording also affected the campaign. Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office rewrote the official summary. The new text described the proposal as one that “prohibits citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification.” Bonta’s office defended the change, stating that revisions to ballot summaries are routine. The office noted that all nine voter-proposed initiatives this year had changes to their titles or summaries.