As our editor Bob Hoge reported, Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Democrats have been up to their dirty tricks to manipulate the language of Prop 39, the Voter ID initiative on the November ballot.
Hoge explained:
But if there’s one thing that Democrats are scared of, it’s voter integrity efforts, and current AG Rob Bonta is doing his best to make sure that a voter ID initiative gets crushed in the November elections. He’s pulling a fast one and renaming Prop 39, which would amend the California Constitution to require voters to present government-issued identification at the polls or the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when voting by mail.
Read Further: What Are They So Afraid Of? CA AG Bonta's Slippery Title Switch Tries to Kneecap Voter ID Measure
Non-Citizen Voting Scandal Gets Worse: Software Giant Blames Election Officials, CA Gets Dragged In
But with the battles over the national SAVE America Act, which would include installing Voter ID nationwide for federal elections, California's usual shadow operations are getting fresh scrutiny.
Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier did a segment on Bonta's move.
WATCH:
BALLOT WORDING SHOWDOWN: Supporters of California's Prop 39 voter ID initiative accuse the state Attorney General of rewriting the ballot title to turn voters against it ahead of November 2026. @wmlajeunesse breaks down the ballot battle. pic.twitter.com/wST2bPlzyo
— Special Report (@SpecialReport) July 23, 2026
Now Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (AD-75), through his Reform California organization, is taking Bonta to court over his sleight of hand trickery.
Chairman of Reform California, Assemblyman Carl DeMaio, announced Friday he is filing a lawsuit immediately against State Attorney General Rob Bonta “to force him to restore a FAIR ballot title to our Prop 39 Voter ID Initiative!”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta was credibly accused this week of rigging the ballot language for Proposition 39, the Voter Identification, Citizenship Verification, and Registered Voter List Administration Initiative, just months before the November 2026 election, the Globe reported Tuesday.
“The initiative, which gathered over a million signatures from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents after more than a year of petition circulation under previously approved wording, now faces what opponents call a last-minute rewrite designed to tilt public perception against it.”
Republican Assemblyman David Tangipa (AD-08) also sounded the alarm and called for action.
Tangipa declared it:
[..T]he most blatant form of cheating and rigging for the November election that we have ever seen. The Attorney General Rob Bonta has now changed the language on our Voter ID initiative Prop. 39. It is going from "Voter ID and Citizenship Verification Constitutional Amendment" to now say, "Prohibits Citizens from Voting." This is insane. The highest law enforcement officer is now actively rigging the election in the middle of the election season.
We've had this language approved for over a year, and just this week he has changed it.
Having been a California citizen involved in getting a ballot initiative established, it takes jumping through many hoops in order to be successful in getting it on the ballot. This includes getting language approved beforehand, and ensuring that the language on the signed petitions matches closely with the language on the ballot. We know this was done for Prop 39, so the need for Bonta to change this language is nothing but dirty politics.
WATCH:
🚨 BREAKING: Attorney General Rob Bonta Just RIGGED and MANIPULATED the Voter ID Initiative on the November Ballot
— David Tangipa (@DavidTangipa) July 21, 2026
Rob Bonta changed the official language of the Voter ID initiative (Prop 39) in the middle of the election season. This language had been approved for over a year,… pic.twitter.com/Fvt0adg8Zx
🚨 BREAKING: Attorney General Rob Bonta Just RIGGED and MANIPULATED the Voter ID Initiative on the November Ballot
Rob Bonta changed the official language of the Voter ID initiative (Prop 39) in the middle of the election season. This language had been approved for over a year, and millions of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents signed petitions to support it.
Original Language (Approved for over a year): “ESTABLISHES ADDITIONAL VOTER IDENTIFICATION AND CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.”
It would require government-issued ID at the polls or the last four digits when voting by mail, provide free voter ID cards, and require annual citizenship verification reports by county.
New Language (Changed by Bonta): “PROHIBITS CITIZENS FROM VOTING UNLESS THEY PRESENT GOVERNMENT-ISSUED IDENTIFICATION. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.”
It now invalidates mail ballots without the last four digits on the envelope and prohibits in-person voting without ID.
This is blatant manipulation and rigging right in the middle of the election season. We need your help to fight back and save California.
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The newly-minted California Republican Rep. James Gallagher (CA-01) is also calling Bonta out for this chicanery, declaring sabotage.
Rob Bonta couldn’t stop 1.3 million Californians from putting Prop 39 on the ballot. So what does he do?
— James Gallagher (@J_Gallagher4CA) July 22, 2026
He changes the ballot title to manipulate how voters see voter ID, sabotaging it before Californians ever get a fair vote
He couldn’t defeat election integrity honestly, so…
And Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley (CA-03) is working to strip this role from the Attorney General's office and move it to an independent commission that writes the majority of the voter guide.
The new ballot wording for the Voter ID initiative is designed to scare and mislead voters. The reason it's being distorted is that a fairly worded measure would pass. This is why I introduced legislation to remove the Attorney General's control over ballot language. https://t.co/OGcKwT4x4H
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) July 22, 2026
One of the reasons California citizens may win this battle over the ballot language is that AG Bonta, along with Gov. Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer, are wee-weeing and lawyering up over the other corruption (it's legion) that has happened under their watch. So, they have greater concerns, mainly staying out of jail. This could force them to take the "L" on the Prop 39 Voter ID ballot initiative and restore the language to what was originally approved.
How do we know? By the fact that instead of pushing back on this lawsuit, Bonta took to X to make excuses, claiming that this is "common."
Fact: It is common for ballot titles and summaries to change from the circulating version to the version voters see on the ballot. California law expressly allows these changes to provide further clarity for voters.
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) July 24, 2026
This year, all nine voter-proposed initiatives had changes,…
Sure, Jan. Funny how roaches go scattering when you turn the lights on. God save California.
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