Fox News national correspondent Matt Finn just walked through California’s official online voter registration system.
What he found is the same gap The Gateway Pundit has been warning about for months: Democrat-run California will let you skip a California ID and skip a Social Security number, then treat a health-club card like “photo identification.”
In a post on X, Finn demonstrated that applicants using California’s online voter-registration portal can indicate that they have neither a California driver’s license or identification card nor a Social Security number.
Finn wrote:
“See it: if you register to vote online in California today you can check ‘No ID’ and ‘No Social Security number.’ The website says first time voters *may be asked to show ID at the ballot box. The CA Secretary of State lists things like a gym or insurance card as acceptable photo identification.”
The screenshots accompanying Finn’s report show both boxes checked on the state’s registration website.
California’s own Secretary of State website confirms that an applicant may leave the identification fields blank.
“If you do not have a driver license, California identification card or Social Security card, you may leave that space blank,” the state explains.
A county elections official will then assign the applicant a separate identification number.
Finn added:
“The California Secretary of State estimates 98% of registered voters provide state ID and the last four digits of SS, but the Trump administration is suing for California to turn over its voter rolls.”
Under California’s rules, most voters are not required to present identification before casting a ballot.
First-time voters who registered online or by mail without supplying a driver’s license number, state identification number, or the last four digits of a Social Security number may be asked to provide identification.
But the state’s list of acceptable documents is unbelievably broad.
According to California Code of Regulations Section 20107, acceptable photo identification may include:
- A health club identification card
- An insurance plan identification card
- A credit or debit card
- A student identification card
- An employee identification card
- An identification card issued by a commercial establishment
- A public housing identification card
Non-photo documents on the same regulation include a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, sample ballot, lease, tuition bill, and a drug prescription issued by a government provider.
California hands out state-funded health coverage to illegal immigrants. An insurance card is not a citizenship document. A Planet Fitness card is not a citizenship document. A credit card is not a citizenship document.
The state’s own voter guide is blunt about everyday voting: “In most cases, NO. California does not generally require voters to show identification at the polls.”
ID is only in play if you are a first-time federal voter who registered by mail or online and skipped the license and SSN. Poll workers are told they may request ID only if the voter list flags it.
No ID at the booth? “No problem, you can still cast a provisional ballot.” Let that sink in.
California officials will accept a gym membership card or insurance card under circumstances in which identification is required, but President Trump’s Justice Department was forced to take the state to court just to inspect its voter rolls.
California requires applicants to declare under penalty of perjury that they are United States citizens. However, its official registration guide shows that the system relies on that sworn affirmation rather than requiring applicants to submit documentary proof of citizenship.
The issue is not that everyone without a state ID or Social Security number is ineligible. American citizens can lack those documents.
The obvious election-integrity question is whether California’s self-attestation system and wide-ranging identification rules provide enough safeguards to prevent ineligible individuals from entering the system.
In September 2025, the Trump Justice Department sued California and five other states for refusing to produce their statewide voter-registration lists.
“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time. “Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure.”
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon added:
“Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law.”
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, Clinton-appointed Judge David O. Carter dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit in January, calling its request for California’s unredacted voter data “unprecedented and illegal.”
But the legal battle did not end there.
The Trump administration appealed Carter’s ruling to the Ninth Circuit. A three-judge panel heard oral arguments in May, and the fight over California’s voter records remains on appeal.
The Gateway Pundit also previously reported that a DOJ review of voter records supplied by cooperating states uncovered hundreds of thousands of outdated or ineligible registrations, including more than 300,000 deceased registrants. Dhillon said potential noncitizen registrations were also being investigated and verified cases involving federal voting were being referred for prosecution.
You need a real ID to fly, cash a check, or buy a beer. In Gavin Newsom’s California, you can register to vote with neither a license nor a Social Security number, and the official backup “photo ID” is a gym membership.
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