Most Californians favour proving citizenship to vote

A majority of voters in both parties back the proof of citizenship requirement for registering, according to a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times. Most Californians also supported requiring a government ID every time a voter casts a ballot

- Kevin Rector

While California voters are sharply divided along partisan lines when it comes to election integrity and voter fraud, they broadly support a politically-charged proposal from President Donald Trump and other Republicans to require first-time voters to provide government-issued identification proving their citizenship in order to register, according to a new poll.

A majority of voters in both parties back the proof of citizenship requirement for registering, according to a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times. Most Californians also supported requiring a government ID every time a voter casts a ballot, though by a slimmer majority and despite most Democrats opposing the idea.

Mark DiCamillo, co-director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, said the bipartisan support for first-time voters showing proof of citizenship stood out, as many of the poll's other findings showed a stark political divide and a majority of Californians at odds with Trump and his recent edicts on voting — which California and other states are suing to block.

Still, DiCamillo said his biggest takeaway was the sharp distrust in the state's election system that the poll found among California Republicans, which he said should be a “serious concern” for state elections officials — even if a majority trust the system.

Democratic voters in the state are largely confident in the state election system and doubtful of prevalent voter fraud, while many Republican voters feel the opposite, the poll found. “It is significant to me that the Republicans in this state are not of that view. And that's something that has to be dealt with,” DiCamillo said. “In an election system, you want both sides to be on board.”