Should Californians Have to Show ID to Vote?

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Reform California, the conservative group behind a proposal to require voters to show identification at the polls, say they’ve gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. Supporters of the initiative, which would require a government-issued photo ID each time a voter casts a ballot in person or by mail, say it’s necessary to combat fraud. But critics say voter fraud is close to nonexistent and that the ID requirement could disenfranchise some state residents. We talk about the impact of voter ID laws on elections and voter behavior. Guests: Christian Grose, professor of political science and public policy; director, Democracy and Elections Lab at USC Lindsey Holden, California politics reporter, Politico Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:36.6	From KQED. From KQED.
0:40.0	Welcome to Forum.
0:41.5	I'm Mina Kim.
0:42.7	Many Democrats have long opposed requiring photo ID to cast ballots of polling places,
0:48.0	saying it would put up unnecessary barriers for eligible voters,
0:51.3	especially considering voter fraud is extremely rare.
0:54.6	But it's looking more likely that a voter ID measure could be on the November ballot in California.
0:59.8	Supporters of the proposal to require a government-issued ID at polling places
1:04.1	say they've gathered well over the required number of signatures to qualify the measure,
1:08.8	and a poll last year finds broad support for voter ID
1:12.2	in California. But the devil's in the details, and that's what we dig into this hour.
1:17.1	Listeners, do you think Californians should have to show ID to cast a ballot? Tell us by calling
1:22.2	866-733-6786 by emailing forum at kQED.org or finding us on our social channels at KQED
1:29.7	forum.
1:31.2	Joining me first is Lindsay Holden, California politics reporter at Politico.
1:35.7	Lindsay, welcome to Forum.
1:37.4	Thanks for having me.
1:39.0	So lay out for us what the initiative would do.
	...

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