SACRAMENTO — With a voter fraud investigation continuing to boil in Orange County, Secretary of State Bill Jones and a local assemblyman have joined forces to push for legislation requiring voters to present a driver's license or other identification before casting a ballot.
The measure, which is being introduced by Assemblyman Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton), faces a tough test in the deeply divided state Legislature.
Though Republicans are expected to unite behind Ackerman's bill, Democrats have traditionally opposed such election day requirements, saying it could effectively disenfranchise some voters and create long lines and headaches at the polls.
Republicans believe the measure might have a better chance because of the powder-keg situation in Orange County, where Hermandad Mexicana Nacional is under fire for allegations of voter fraud.
In recent weeks, the Orange County district attorney's office has seized the files of hundreds of students who attended Hermandad citizenship classes and may have registered to vote before being sworn in as citizens. If the investigation leads to indictments, it could provide the public relations boost the Ackerman bill would need to overcome the Democrats, who control both houses.
Ackerman contends the identification requirement at polling places is an idea that should have been in place all along.
"You have to provide more documentation to sign up your kid for soccer than you do to go and vote," Ackerman said. "I think this would be very easy to comply with. It doesn't put any real additional burden on the electorate."
The bill requires voters to present some form of documentation proving their identity and residency when they go to the polls.
Voters could use a California driver's license, identification card, voter registration card or sample ballot pamphlet, military identification card, citizenship document or birth certificate. To prove residency a voter could show any of those plus a telephone or utility bill.
If the voter didn't have such documentation, they could vote on a provisional ballot that would be accepted once they were able to provide proof of their status.
"I think of it as a way of protecting the fair elections process," said Assembly GOP Leader Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove). "You have to show identification when you write a $5 check at a grocery store. I believe the privilege and right of a vote cast is of far more importance than a $5 check."
