California has nearly 200,000 potential noncitizen voters on its rolls and refuses to verify a single one.
Democrats say there's nothing to worry about.
Now an ad from the Proposition 39 campaign is showing exactly how California's system makes that possible.
California Has No Voter ID Law – And Poll Workers Cannot Ask for Proof
A California poll worker knew exactly who he wasn't – and California law made her hand him a ballot anyway.
Californians for Voter ID released the ad this week to push Proposition 39, a November 3 ballot measure requiring government-issued photo ID to vote in California.
California is one of a handful of states where walking into a polling place and signing any name on the roster is enough to get a ballot.
The ad is a parody – but every legal detail is accurate.
A man walks up to the ballot table and announces he's Sydney Sweeney, one of Hollywood's most recognizable actresses.
The poll worker looks directly at him – a grown man who resembles no one named Sydney Sweeney – and starts to ask for identification.
Her supervisor cuts her off and tells her she cannot ask for ID. She hands him the ballot.
He signs "Sydney Sweeney" on the roster, takes the ballot, and strolls out tossing his hair – wearing three "I Voted" stickers on his T-shirt.
Those three stickers aren't a throwaway gag. In a state where no ID is required and signatures go unchecked, one person can vote under multiple names across multiple precincts.
Then the real Sydney Sweeney shows up to vote and can't.
The California Secretary of State's website spells it out: in most cases, voters are not required to show identification before casting a ballot – no photo check, no signature match, no citizenship verification of any kind.
That's the entire voter verification system for the biggest state in the country.
Steve Hilton – Republican gubernatorial candidate – called the ad "brilliant" and posted on X that common sense is on the ballot: "YES on Voter ID!"
DHS Found 190,000 Noncitizen Voter Registrations on California Rolls
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent California a letter in July warning that a federal review had identified 190,832 potential noncitizen registrations on the state's voter rolls.
California called the findings "fallacious." Secretary of State Shirley Weber insisted fraud is "extremely rare," refused to verify a single name on the list, and Democrats went to court to block the DOJ from ever seeing the full voter rolls.
New Jersey got the same DHS letter and admitted a software glitch had quietly registered thousands of noncitizens. California kept its rolls locked and its courtrooms busy.
Republican California Assemblyman Carl DeMaio led the effort to put Prop 39 on the ballot, collecting more than 1.3 million signatures.
"They want you to think this is a partisan initiative," DeMaio said. "It's not – it's just good government."
Senator Alex Padilla compared Prop 39 to redistricting battles and urged California voters to "fight back against Donald Trump."
Prop 39 also mandates the state provide free voter ID cards to anyone who needs one. The claim that voter ID locks people out of elections died the moment that provision went into the bill.
What California Democrats Are Really Defending by Opposing Prop 39
A September poll from the Public Policy Institute of California found 55% of likely voters opposing Prop 39, with 43% in support. In April, a Berkeley Institute poll had shown 56% supporting and 39% opposed.
Three months of Democrats calling it a Trump plot flipped the numbers – 80% of California Democrats now oppose Prop 39, while 93% of Republicans support it.
These are California politicians fighting a reform that more than 80% of Americans – including majorities of Democrat voters nationally – say they want.
This was never about protecting voters.
The Heritage Foundation documented what actually happens when voter ID becomes law: states like Georgia and Indiana saw turnout increase after implementation.
The Federalist documented noncitizens casting actual ballots – 41 in North Carolina in 2016 alone, and Pennsylvania uncovering 11,198 noncitizens on its voter rolls in 2019.
What Democrats are actually defending is a system where a man wearing three "I Voted" stickers can walk up to a ballot table, sign Sydney Sweeney's name, and leave with her ballot – while the poll worker who knew he was lying had no legal power to stop it.
DHS identified nearly 200,000 names on California's rolls it believes belong to noncitizens – and California won't check a single one.
November 3 is the only chance to change that.
Sources:
- Angelina Delfin, "Can a Grown Man Vote as Sydney Sweeney? Ad Shows How Rigged California Voting Really Is," The Daily Signal, October 22, 2026.
- Nick Arama, "'Sydney Sweeney' Makes the Case for Voter ID in California in Brilliant Ad," RedState, October 21, 2026.
- Fred Lucas, "California Bucks National Trend as Voter ID Initiative Faces Uphill Fight," The Daily Signal, August 19, 2026.
- Staff, "DHS: More Than 250,000 Noncitizens Are Registered to Vote in Four States," The Federalist, July 16, 2026.
- Hans von Spakovsky, "Voter Photo Identification: Protecting the Security of Elections," Heritage Foundation.
- Staff, "Quarter Million Noncitizens Registered to Vote in 4 Key States, DHS Alleges," Fox News, July 2026.