Ballot Initiatives

Under current law, when registering to vote, individuals must state under penalty of perjury that they are United States citizens and provide information to verify their identity (e.g., birthdate, driver’s license or Social Security number). This measure would amend the California Constitution to further require that: voters present government-issued identification at the polls or the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when voting by mail in order for their vote to be counted; the state provide voter identification cards on request; and elections officials annually report percentage of each county’s voters whose citizenship they have verified.

Authorizes California to use up to $25 billion in bonds to establish a new homebuying assistance program that would offer eligible buyers fixed-rate mortgages for up to 17% of the purchase price of a “qualified new home” (new construction or first sale of converted nonresidential property, priced below about $1 million–$1.5 million, depending on county, adjusted annually). To qualify for this assistance, borrowers must be California residents for one year, plan to occupy the home, earn less than 200% of area median income, and pay at least 3% down payment. The bonds would be repaid by homeowners’ mortgage payments, not the state.

The state of California would impose a one-time tax of up to 5% on taxpayers and trusts with covered assets valued over $1 billion -- including businesses, securities, art, collectibles, and intellectual property, but excluding real property and some pensions and retirement accounts. This proposition would allocate 90% of these tax revenues for health care and 10% for food assistance or education-related programs; but would prohibit using these collected revenues to replace existing funding for these purposes.