California Republicans unveil constitutional proposals to alter election oversight

California Republican legislators used a Thursday press conference to promote two constitutional amendments focused on election integrity. The first, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 23, authored by Josh Hoover and Natasha Johnson, would strip party affiliation from the Secretary of State role, aligning it with other nonpartisan offices in the state. The second, Senate Constitutional Amendment 3, introduced by Roger Niello, aims to move the responsibility for drafting ballot measure titles and summaries from the partisan Attorney General’s Office to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, citing alleged bias in past measures.

Neither amendment is slated for inclusion on the November 3 ballot, and Democratic leaders, including Senate Elections Chair Scott Wiener, criticized the initiatives as unfounded conspiracy claims. The proposals were unveiled shortly after a state court upheld the language of Proposition 39, a voter-ID measure that Republicans argue enhances election security. Lawmakers did not specify whether they will refile the amendments in the next legislative session.