California Attorney General Rob Bonta secured a win against a lawsuit that challenged a text describing a voter ID ballot measure. The measure, Proposition 39, would require voters to prove they are U.S. citizens when registering to vote.
Bonta’s office originally provided a title and language for the effort that said it “establishes additional voter identification and citizenship verification requirements.” An updated title instead said the measure “prohibits citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification.”
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jennifer Rockwell ruled that the ballot measure accurately described the proposition as a policy that “prohibits citizens from voting.”
“Because the certified ballot title, summary, and label for Proposition 39 accurately describe the effect of the measure and reflect a reasonable exercise of the Attorney General’s discretion in preparing these items under Elections Code 9051, the Petition will be denied,” Rockwell found.
Bonta wrote on X that the “ruling confirms what we have said from the start: the ballot materials at issue — the ballot title and summary and ballot label — give a true and impartial statement of Proposition 39’s chief purpose and points.”
“My office followed the law and fulfilled its duty to provide California voters with clear, accessible, and accurate information,” he said. “We’re pleased that the court agreed with us.”
Republican California Assemblymember and Reform California Chairman Carl DeMaio told ABC10 of the decision: “I’m disappointed but not surprised.”
“Voters should be given an honest, impartial and neutral description of what’s on their ballot,” he said. “Instead, you got the politicians trying to rig and manipulate the election.”
