Backers of California voter ID measure to sue Attorney General Rob Bonta for ballot title change | CA Politics 360
Supporters of California’s Prop 39 voter ID measure are preparing to sue Attorney General Rob Bonta, claiming his office altered the ballot title to mislead voters and sway them against the initiative.
The original title described the measure as “establishes additional voter identification and citizenship verification requirements.” However, the attorney general’s office changed it to “prohibits citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification.”
San Diego Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, who is leading the effort, criticized the change in an interview on California Politics 360.
“What happened is corruption, deception at the hands of a Sacramento politician who’s gotten away with it for so many years,” DeMaio said. “Rob Bonta has decided to try to rig the election against Prop 39 by changing at the last minute the ballot title to try to manipulate voters into voting no on what ordinarily would be a 70% supported issue.”
DeMaio argued that the original title accurately reflected the measure’s intent, which he described as requiring voter ID and citizenship verification for voter registration. “Nothing in our initiative prohibits citizens from voting,” he said. “In fact, we’re trying to protect citizen votes from being canceled out by illegitimate or illegal votes.”
He also accused Bonta of attempting to confuse voters. “The ballot title is absolutely inaccurate,” DeMaio said. “It’s designed to rig the election to produce a no vote. It’s designed to scare voters into voting no, through deception, through dishonesty.”
DeMaio announced plans to take legal action but expressed doubts about the likelihood of success. “California courts in the past have been very reluctant to interfere with the attorney general’s ballot titles,” he said. “We will take it to court. And we will also take it to the ballot box to make sure that voters know the truth.”
Attorney General Rob Bonta defended the changes, stating they were lawful and intended to provide clarity. “It is fully compliant. It meets our obligations. It is more helpful to voters. It is more accurate. It is more informative,” Bonta said. “Our office is duty-bound to provide an impartial, descriptive, fair, accurate description of the measure, and we did that for Prop 39.”
Bonta was in charge of writing the title and summary of nine of the measures on the ballot (the others were written by the legislature). He said he made changes to all nine.
DeMaio dismissed Bonta’s defense, calling him “a liar” and accusing him of trying to derail the initiative. “Just look at the before and after,” DeMaio said. “We got a fair title a year ago when he didn’t think we were going to actually get it put on the ballot through signatures.”
DeMaio described Prop 39 as a bipartisan solution to voter ID that aims to improve election integrity without imposing burdens on voters. “It implements voter ID without any mandates on voters, without making it harder for voters to vote,” he said. “It restores public trust and confidence by auditing the process and making those audits available to the public.”
He emphasized that the measure was developed with input from voters across the political spectrum and election officials. “We believe Prop 39 is bipartisan and balanced,” he said. “It is a gold standard voter ID solution that every state, whether you’re red or blue, should be implementing.”
As the legal battle looms, DeMaio said his team is prepared for the possibility that the courts may not intervene. “We must prepare for the worst, the dirty tricks, the corruption, the lies,” he said. “And we have to get the truth out to voters this November.”
Bonta, however, remains confident in the legality of the changes. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this is completely lawful,” he said. “We have completely fulfilled our duty here. We are fully legally compliant.”
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.