New Poll Finds Majority of Californians Want Proof of Citizenship Requirement When Registering to Vote

AENN

californiaglobe.com/fr/new-poll-finds-majority-of-californians-want-proof-of-citizenship-to-be-required-before-registering-to-vote/

Evan Symon

According to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) poll released on Friday, the vast majority of Californians want to have a proof of citizenship requirement when registering to vote for the first time.

The IGS poll found that 71% of Californians want that proof of citizenship requirement for first time voter registration, with proof being a passport, REAL ID drivers license or some other form of government issued ID. Only 24% opposed such a policy. 5% in total showed no opinion. When broken down by party, 95% of Republicans approved of the policy, followed by 71% no party preference and 59% of Democrats.

Things slightly shifted with the next question, which asked of requiring proof of citizenship, but before each time they voted. Here a majority of Californians approved again, although this time it was only 54% in favor, 41% against and 5% no opinion. 88% of Republicans approved of proof before every vote, but only 54% of no party preference Californians and 37% of Democrats approved.

The most surprising question of the poll asked if respondents approved of having the state prohibiting the counting of mail-in ballots after election day even if they are postmarked by election day. Here only 26% of Californians approved, as opposed to 68% against. 6% expressed no opinion. By party, only the Republicans brought a high amount in favor of the change – 57%. Conversely only 23% of no party preference and 9% of Democrats approved.

“The two parties remain polarized regarding basic questions about the democratic process in the U.S., with voters disagreeing sharply about the extent of voterfraud and about the best policies to improve the conduct of elections,” explained IGS Co-Director Eric Schickler.

“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,” added IGS Co-Director Mark DiCamillo. “My biggest takeaway is the sharp distrust in the state’s election system that the poll found among California Republicans, which 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.”

Another poll question found that a majority of Republicans have no confidence in the integrity of California’s election system (61% showing no confidence in it) and believe that there is fraud in the election system (74% saying that it is prevalent).

“While greater than two in three California voters (68%) express confidence in the overall integrity of the state’s election system, and a 57% majority believes that voter fraud in California elections is rare, these views are not shared by the state’s Republican voters,” added DiCamillo. “Among GOP voters, 61% say they are not very or not at all confident in the state’s election system and 74% think fraud is prevalent in its elections.”

For those in charge of California elections, this distrust signals a growing problem. As the number of registered Republicans increase in the state, and the number of registered Democrats decline, more complaints of election fairness are likely. The rapidly shrinking Supermajority in the state legislature is a product of this increase, and could prove to be even more contentious in upcoming special elections, as well as 2026, 2028 and beyond.