Republican California State Assemblyman Bill Essayli has introduced legislation and a ballot measure to mandate voter ID in California, consistent with President Trump’s calls for secure elections, which ostensibly led to his removal from the Assembly Elections Committee.
“I was the vice chair of the elections committee up here in Sacramento, but after I introduced that bill, they removed me from the elections committee,” Essayli told The Gateway Pundit. “They wouldn’t tell me why. I mean, I can only suspect they didn’t want to give me a platform for this issue.”
Essayli and Assemblyman Carl DeMaio previously introduced AB25 in the wake of President Trump’s visit to California in January. “If enacted, the bill would require: Voter ID for in-person and mail-in ballots; citizenship verification and accurate maintenance of voter lists by each county; enhanced ballot signature review requirements; and imposing penalties on counties if they don’t finish counting their ballots within 72 hours of the election,” according to a press release.
Earlier this month, the two introduced a ballot measure in order to go around the far-left Democrat supermajority in the state legislature because “the elected Democrats are never going to let this pass,” said Essayli.
This comes as recent polling data shows that 68% of Californians, including 52% of Democrats and 70% of Independents, support voter ID requirements.
Additionally, as The Gateway Pundit reported, 48% of Californians are considering voting Republican in the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Nearly Half of Californians Consider Voting Republican Governor in 2026 Amid Democrat Failures, Statewide Poll Reveals
California voters appear to be sick of the destruction caused by Democrat officials and the illegal voting in their rigged elections. Essayli told us, "I can tell you, they [the Democrats] are scared, and they seem very fractured as a caucus internally."
Essayli spoke to The Gateway Pundit on Monday evening about his efforts to require voter ID in the state and his removal from the Elections Committee.
"We need volunteers. We need people to help with resources. If we get the signatures and get this on the ballot, it will pass," he said.
You can donate to help pass this ballot measure here and sign up to volunteer here.
Watch the full interview below:
Conradson: Assemblyman Essayli, after President Trump visited California in January and called for voter ID, one day elections, and to clean up elections, you immediately introduce AB25. Now you're introducing a ballot measure to give the voters a choice in the matter. Tell us about that.
Essayli: So obviously, voter ID is a big, big issue, and it's really— when we're talking about voter ID, there are two core things we're talking about. One is citizenship verification, making sure only citizens are voting in our elections. And two, when a ballot is cast, it's cast by that specific voter, and the only way you can verify that is through some kind of identification. So, those are the two core components of the bill I introduced. And yes, I was the vice chair of the elections committee up here in Sacramento, but after I introduced that bill, they removed me from the elections committee. They wouldn't tell me why. I mean, I can only suspect they didn't want to give me a platform for this issue, and and so we pivoted. Obviously, we know we're not going to get a fair hearing in Sacramento; the elected Democrats are never going to let this pass. So, fortunately, in California, we have a workaround from the legislature, and that is through a ballot initiative. So, if we get enough signatures, the voters can enact the law, or, in this case, constitutional amendment directly without having to go through the legislature. So that's the viable path we see to move forward.
Conradson: It's my understanding that right now in California, you can go register to vote without an ID, then you can go to the polls without an ID and vote anyway. What's stopping someone from crossing over the border right before the election, or creating a fake identity and voting, and then voting again, and then voting again? I mean, how do they keep this in check?
Essayli: Well, Jordan, they have to sign a statement saying that they're qualified to vote. So, you know, we have the honor system, essentially, is what's going on right now in California. And then they'll say that, well, it's a criminal offense, so they'll be prosecuted. There's been very few prosecutions. So, there really isn't a good deterrent right now to stop people from doing that. And in fact, you take it even a step further, in California, we register a lot of voters at the DMV. The DMV does provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, and just a few years ago, there was an audit where they accidentally registered illegal immigrants. And we have written in our law that if the DMV accidentally registers you, you cannot be prosecuted or held accountable for that mistake. So, there's a lot of funny business going on in California when it comes to this issue. Yes, you can go online, you can register to vote, you don't have to submit any identification. What the Democrats will say is, yeah, but the first time you vote in a federal election, you do have to provide a proof of ID. The proof; you should go to the Secretary of State website and see what they accept as a form of ID in the state of California. They will take a utility bill, they will take a library card, they will take a student ID, they'll take all kinds of stuff that nobody reasonably believes is an actual form of ID. So that's why we need a voter ID law in California.
