The proposed California Voter ID and Election Integrity Act of 2025, introduced by Assemblymembers Carl DeMaio and Bill Essayli, aims to address concerns about election integrity and public trust in California’s electoral process. Key components of the bill include a requirement for government-issued voter ID for both in-person and mail-in voting, citizenship verification before individuals are added to voter rolls, and enhanced maintenance of voter lists. Additionally, the bill seeks to impose penalties on counties that fail to complete ballot counting within 72 hours, with a focus on improving the accuracy and speed of election result reporting.
The bill also includes measures for auditing the integrity of the signature review process, requiring the state auditor to randomly sample and audit signature reviews conducted by county election offices. Findings from these audits must be reported within 90 days of each election, and any county with deficiencies must submit a remediation plan.
Proponents argue that these measures are necessary to restore public confidence in the electoral process, emphasizing that the reforms are designed to be common-sense solutions supported by a majority of Californians. They call for bipartisan support to enact these changes, highlighting the importance of election integrity for the health of democracy.
