California voters will decide in November whether to require photo identification to cast a ballot at a polling place and to submit a four-digit PIN when sending a mail-in ballot. The measure was championed by Carl DeMaio, a Republican state representative from San Diego, and nearly 1 million Californians signed on in support.

A ballot measure committee raised $8.8 million last year to support the proposal. California is one of 14 states, along with the District of Columbia, that do not require voters to show identification when casting ballots.

A poll released last month by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley found that 44% of voters supported the measure, 45% opposed it, and the rest were undecided. Democrats have historically opposed voter ID laws.

The California vote will take place as similar measures advance at the federal level and in other states. Last week, Donald Trump demanded that Congress eliminate the filibuster so Republicans can pass the Save America Act, which would impose a federal requirement to show proof of citizenship to cast a ballot. On 1 April, Ron DeSantis signed into law a state bill modeled on the stalled federal act.

Voter ID laws have also produced mixed outcomes in federal court. US district judge Loretta Biggs upheld North Carolina's 2018 voter ID law after it faced challenges from civil rights groups. More recently, in 2022, the ninth US circuit court of appeals struck down key provisions of voter ID laws passed by Arizona after finding that several challenged provisions were unlawful measures of voter suppression.