Some 130 million Americans or 38% of the U.S. population live in the 14 states that don’t require voters to show an ID to vote.

That number could dramatically fall by a third this November when California and Nevada’s 43 million people will vote on voter ID initiatives.

Nevada already gave 73% approval to the idea in 2024, but must pass it a second time for it to become law. That’s almost a sure thing.

California’s voter ID initiative qualified for the ballot last Friday and will be more contested. That’s because it also requires election officials to verify the citizenship of registered voters and requires regular maintenance of accurate voter rolls.

A May 2025 survey by the University of California at Berkeley found voter ID was highly popular and requiring verification of citizenship when people first register to vote won support from 71% of voters, including 59% of Democrats.

Expect progressives to spend hundreds of millions on TV ads framing the issue in partisan terms against Donald Trump. We expect voters to see through this ploy.