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

Boy looks under voting booth at Ventura Polling Station for California primary Ventura County, California, Ventura County, CA, Jun. 7, 2016. (Photo: Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock)

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

71% want proof for first time registration, 54% want proof before every election

By Evan Symon, May 9, 2025 4:40 pm

09 May 2025 4:40 pm

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 voter
fraud 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.

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7 thoughts on “New Poll Finds Majority of Californians Want Proof of Citizenship Requirement When Registering to Vote”

  1. The chances of cleaning up the rolls of moved, gorked out, dead, or illegal voters will get a big fat LOL from California democrats. Voter totals show a dismal participation rate indicating that the majority of California ballots are harvested, both open and sealed, as well as unaccounted for “mailed to last address” ballots. Humans are being replaced in more ways than one.

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  2. Californians also support Voter ID, and what did the Commucrats do? Outlaw it. The Commucrats want it as easy as possible to cheat in elections.

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    1. Regarding the counting of ballots after election day, personally I don’t care. But what does irk me is that as the center of technological advance, why in hell can’t this State have the ballots totalled in a timely fashion? Why are we always the last State to certify election results in the country? Like weeks after the rest of the States…

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      1. If the ballots were counted in a timely fashion they couldn’t cheat. In other words, the slow-walk of ballot-counting is by design, done on purpose, so that the Dem-Marxist election cheaters can know how many counterfeit ballots they will need to submit to make sure their preferred Dem candidate wins. The Dem-Marxist leadership’s refusal to restore the reasonable and verifiable voting and election protocols we once had — and thus restore the public’s faith in California’s elections — is strong proof of election cheating if you ask me.

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      2. @John Palmer, the simple and accurate answer to your question is that the Democrats need as much time to harvest and cure as many pro-Democrat ballots as possible to insure that their candidate wins. Extending the counting period insures that Democrats retain a super majority in the legislature and that they win statewide elections. Ask yourself THIS question: Why does it take so long to count ballots when MOST of the counties use electronic voting? Machines are supposed to be faster and more efficient, no?

        Per GROK3:

        How many counties in California use electronic voting systems like Dominion?

        As of the most recent data, 39 of California’s 58 counties use Dominion Voting Systems’ electronic voting systems, specifically models like the ImageCast Evolution (ICE) and ImageCast X (ICX). These counties include Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Marin, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, and Yuba.
        However, Shasta County terminated its contract with Dominion in 2023, opting for hand-counting ballots, though it planned to adopt a new electronic system. Los Angeles County uses a custom-built system called VSAP, not Dominion. The remaining counties either use other vendors like Election Systems & Software (ES&S) or Hart InterCivic, or rely on hand-marked paper ballots with optical scanners, as all California voting systems must produce a paper record per state law.

        Thus, approximately 39 counties currently use Dominion systems, though this number may shift as counties update their systems or switch vendors. For the most precise count, check with the California Secretary of State’s list of certified voting technologies.

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