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MONDAY, MARCH 09-MARCH 15, 2026
Thousands of Riverside County residents back voter ID law
Populous counties, including 4 in SoCal, struggling to implement CARE Act
By Joe Taglieri
By Staff
joet@beaconmedianews.com
T
he signatures of tens of thousands of Riverside County residents on a petition calling for a statewide ballot initiative to require identification before voting were submitted March 2 to the county Office of the Registrar of Voters. Californians for Voter ID’s petition, backed by 130,704 signatures collected throughout Riverside County during the last four months, was received the morning of March 2 at the front office of the registrar’s headquarters, 2720 Gateway Drive in Riverside. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, state Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, and state Sen. Tony Strickland,R-Huntington Beach, were among the voter ID supporters who delivered the signatures. Californians for Voter ID collected more than 1.3 million signatures statewide in each of California’s 58 counties, according to the group led by DeMaio. All county registrars’ offices this week will receive petitions. Group spokesman José Hernández said signature totals for the remaining counties will be available after individual counties receive petitions. Registrars will have eight days to validate the legitimacy of the signatures. After the initial count, counties will send vetted petitions to the California Secretary of State’s Office. State officials will do random sampling and take additional steps to validate the signatures. If less than 95% of the signatures are deemed valid, the state will reject a petition. For approved petitions, state law gives officials 131 days to develop the ballot language based on the initiative, which according to Californians for Voter
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Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, R-San Diego, flanked by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, on his left, and on his right state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Newport Beach, and Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, deliver the first statewide batch of voter ID petition signatures in Riverside. | Photo courtesy of Carl DeMaio/Facebook
ID should be placed on the ballot for the November general election. If voters enact the measure, state law would require every person casting a ballot to verify his or her identity with a driver’s license or other standard photo ID and confirm that he or she is a United States citizen. “These basic safeguards will not hinder legal voting, but guarantee each valid vote is protected,” according to Californians for Voter ID. “Support for voter ID laws transcends party lines — it’s not a Republican or Democratic issue,” group Chairman Julie Luckey said in a statement. “Polls consistently show that majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and independents favor these measures. Voter ID is simply a common-sense policy. California needs to modernize its elections to align with the vast majority of the world’s democracies.
While our state leads in so many areas, it lags behind on this issue. It’s time for California to catch up and enact voter ID laws.” Opponents say rather than safeguarding democracy, voter ID is unnecessary because in-person fraud is rare, and the burdensome requirement targets members of minority groups who might have a more difficult time acquiring photo identification. “Many Americans do not have one of the forms of government-issued photo identification that state laws list as acceptable for voting,” according to the ACLU. “These voters are disproportionately low-income, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Such voters more frequently cannot afford or cannot obtain the See Voter ID Page 31
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underlying documents that are a prerequisite to obtaining government-issued photo ID card.” Riverside County is no stranger to voting controversy, starting with grassroots efforts dating back to the early 2000s that succeeded in convincing state officials to recertify electronic voting machines. Since then a number of issues have come up, sometimes as a result of the county voting registrar’s procedures and sometimes because of an apparent lack of transparency. The county Board of Supervisors has implemented multiple reform efforts, typically following the establishment of ad-hoc committees to study matters. Civic activists regularly attend Board of Supervisors meetings to express
tate officials on March 2 announced ramped up efforts and more funding to help the most populous counties implement legislation that expands supportive housing and behavioral health services for mentally ill Californians experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Touting the first statewide drop in unsheltered homelessness in more than 15 years — a 9% decline — Gov. Gavin Newsom also noted new accountability measures to speed up the adoption of CARE Court and awarded $291 million to expand supportive housing and behavioral health services. The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act is intended to accelerate housing and treatment expansion under voter-approved Proposition 1. Supporters of the legislation say it aims to move mentally ill people out of the criminal justice system, off the streets and into treatment and supportive housing. State funding for the initiative also comes from the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention, or HHAP program. Newsom designated 10 counties that are leading the state in successful implementation and identified another 10 — including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — that are not effectively implementing CARE Act services to help get chronically mentally ill people off the streets and into supportive housing facilities. “Care and accountability go hand in hand — full stop. Through CARE Court, we have seen inspirational stories of recovery and resilience, but many counties continue to lag behind their peers,” Newsom said in a statement. See CARE Act Page 03
“Local leaders have a moral and legal obligation to deliver this transformational tool for those who need it most. We will not accept failure and excuses when lives are on the line.” The CARE Act took effect in 2023 and is a first-in-thenation approach to empower individuals with untreated or undertreated schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders to receive the treatment and housing needed to recover and thrive, officials said. Navigating the mental health system and maintaining a consistent treatment plan is difficult for many people suffering from mental health disorders. The CARE Act enables mentally ill people to connect with a team of support providers, under the guidance of a civil court judge, to ensure those who need voluntary treatment do not have to go through the process alone. Officials said that while CARE Court is overseen by a civil court judge, it is not punitive, but instead structured to optimize chances for the CARE participant’s success. The A petition submitted by the individual, a family member, first responder or mental health professional starts the process for process for receiving assistance from the program. Eight counties, including Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside, initiated programs in 2023, and all 58 counties in the state started programs by December 2024. Since then, over 3,800 CARE Act petitions have been submitted to courts, according to Newsom’s office. Counties have reported more than 4,000 CARE diversions, which are cases involving individuals considered for CARE who have connected with services