Voter ID Has Passed in 36 States. California Could Be Next — Here's Exactly What Changes If It Does.
California UndergroundSeptember 15, 202600:00:00

Voter ID Has Passed in 36 States. California Could Be Next — Here's Exactly What Changes If It Does.

California just qualified a voter ID measure funded largely by an out-of-state billionaire — and a recall reform written by the one legislator who's actually lived through a successful recall. Orange County GOP chairman Will O'Neill joins Phil and Camille to make the case for both Prop 39 (voter ID and citizenship verification) and Prop 5 (ending the recall replacement election), and gets pressed on the receipts behind each: the $10M+ funding a Wisconsin billionaire poured into Prop 39, the LAO's cost estimate of up to a few hundred million dollars a year, and the irony that Prop 5's author was himself recalled and replaced by a plurality winner in 2018.

We don't tell you how to vote. We show you the documents, the money, and the mechanism — you decide.

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📌 Sources:

LAO, Proposition 39 analysis: https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=39&year=2026
LAO, Proposition 39 fiscal PDF: https://lao.ca.gov/ballot/2026/prop39-110326.pdf
California Budget Center, Prop 39 explainer: https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/proposition-39-explained-what-voter-id-would-mean-for-california/
Campaign finance coverage, Prop 39 donors: https://www.aol.com/articles/leaning-billionaires-help-bankroll-california-120000000.html
CalMatters, full ballot roundup: https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/06/california-ballot-measures-november-election/
Ballotpedia, Prop 5 / SCA 1: https://ballotpedia.org/California_Eliminate_State_Officer_Recall_Successor_Elections_Amendment_(2026)
Assembly Elections Committee analysis of SCA 1: https://aelc.assembly.ca.gov/media/2521
CalMatters, Prop 5 voter guide: https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/proposition-5-recall-reform/
Will O'Neill bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_O%27Neill_(politician)
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