FRESNO, Calif – A ballot proposition in California seeks to reinforce the way people vote on future elections. If voters approve Proposition 39 on Tuesday, citizens would be barred from voting unless they present a government- issued ID – commonly referred to as a Voter ID.
California has one of the highest rates of people voting by mail, but scrutiny of vote-by-mail participation is increasing under the Trump administration.
The administration has most recently zeroed in on alleged non-U.S. citizens voting in elections. In October, 28 people in California were charged with alleged voter fraud, including three people in Fresno County.
Proposition 39 would require voters to provide the last four digits of a government–issued identification number on their ballot envelope when they return it to the elections office.
Election officials will then verify that the identification number that voters provided would match the voters registration information. California started to mail ballots to citizens in 1970. Last year, there was a nearly 90 percent rate of vote-by-mail.
Proposition 39 would also require the state auditor to report on how well the state and each county comply with results of the measure and provide recommendations for improvements.
Michael Farren, assistant director of the State and Local Governance Initiative at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, told Central Valley Daily’s Soreath Hok that Proposition 39 is an attempt to restore voter confidence in elections.
Listen to the full interview with Michael Farren on Central Valley Daily here. This segment aired on Oct. 26, 2026. If you have a story idea, email podcast@kvpr.org.
