California registers people to vote based on an affidavit without requiring documentary proof of citizenship.
Said by Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸, Checked Updated
- Sources
- 4 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
VINCEOct 28, 2026
Official California and federal sources say registration relies on a penalty-of-perjury citizenship affidavit and does not require documentary proof of citizenship, as of the 2026-10-28 posting date. The claim matches the passage's point about self-attestation, and the pending ballot measure and bill text are proposals that would change this rather than current law.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… How the hell do you separate the ballots after they're submitted, and then, in the pile of votes with no distinguishing features on them whatsoever to tell you whether or not those particular votes belong to illegal voters, how the hell does that happen? California's entire voter registration system is jacked up. You don't even have to prove you're an American citizen. You just have to pretend. It's it's through self attestation. Steve Hilde has been talking about this. He's running for governor right now in California. Literally, people step forward and say, "Yeah, I'm a citizen." You promise? Mm-hmm, and that's it. That's all you need to do. Does California ever check? …
VINCE · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Orange County Registrar of Voters (published 2026-10-02) states that federal and California law require a registration affidavit signed under penalty of perjury and do not require documentary proof of citizenship.[4]
Supports. The FVAP California guide (published 2026-10-19) states that voters registering with the federal form in California are not required to submit proof of citizenship.[5]
Supports. The California Secretary of State's registration page (published 2026-10-27) lists citizenship as a qualification and describes the online and paper registration process, consistent with an attestation-based system.[6]
Supports. Snopes (published 2026-10-20) reports that 49 states, including California, require voters to attest under penalty of law that they are U.S. citizens.[1]
Context. The AP (published 2026-04-25) reports a proposal to require proof of citizenship at registration that will appear on the November ballot, which implies it was not yet in effect. The leginfo bill text (published 2026-11-02) shows proposed documentation requirements, not enacted law as of 2026-10-28.[2][7]
Context. Reuters (published 2026-09-23) reports that software glitches and clerical errors have added some non-citizens to voter rolls. This concerns errors rather than the registration standard the claim describes.[3]
Sources
7 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 4 primary
- 1Noncitizens don't vote in large numbers in US elections. Here ...snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2California to weigh tighter restrictions on voter registration amid US debate on election securityapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3How US states mistakenly added 30,000 non-citizens to voter rollsreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 4Do Voters Have to Prove Citizenship? - OC Voteocvote.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 5California - FVAP.govfvap.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 6Voter Registration | California Secretary of State to Register to Votesos.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 7Today's Law As Amendedleginfo.legislature.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Checked 2 times
Each check reads the sources again. The newest verdict is the one this page states.
- · latestTrue
- True
Related claims
- Los Angeles election officials stated in a federal court that they have no independent way to verify voter citizenship beyond voter attestation.True
- California allows automatic voter registration when obtaining a driver's license.True
- Over 20,000 non-citizens are registered to vote in California.Can’t tell