Proposition 39: California voters to decide if valid ID should be required to vote

Is California too lax when it comes to voter identification? A proposition on the midterm ballot will let Californians decide if a valid ID should be required to vote.

The "No" campaign for California's voter ID proposition rallied in downtown Los Angeles earlier this week.

"Proposition 39 is the same old playbook with a California zip code," said Yvonne Wheeler, the President of the L.A. County Federation of Labor.

Prop. 39 would require those voting in person to present a government-issued ID and if you're voting by mail, you would need to write the last four digits of a government-issued ID number, such as your social security number, on the outside of your mail ballot envelope.

Although the proposition is being pushed by some Republican legislators in Sacramento and the California republican party, those against it say this is another attempt by President Trump to discourage people from voting.

"I absolutely believe this is nothing but a political power grab by Donald Trump. His record, as you've heard, has not just been very unpopular, it's been so harmful to so many people. The Republican Party's only chance of maintaining power after this November to skirt accountability, which is what voters are getting ready to do, is to suppress the vote. And this isn't their only effort," said California Senator Alex Padilla.

"Voter ID laws are designed to disenfranchise voters, to create barriers that make it harder for Black workers, Latinos, work voters, immigrant communities, seniors, and working people to exercise a fundamental right to vote," said Wheeler.

But, the Chairwoman of the California Republican Party Corrin Rankin says getting rid of signature verification on mail in ballots and instituting Prop 39's new rules would speed up the vote count in California.

"Having voter ID with your elections is something that should be a nonpartisan issue, actually. Thirty-six states already use some sort of voter ID. And I think California, you know, honestly, we should be leading the way in voter ID, but right now we're kind of behind. We need to catch up and we need to make sure that our elections are secure. And, you know, having the way our elections are run right now, it takes about a month to count the votes," said Rankin.