Secretary of State warns federal proposals could force costly changes to California elections; seeks funding for Cal Access replacement

Secretary of State Shirley Weber told the Assembly Budget Subcommittee 5 on State Administration that her office is asking the Legislature to approve funding to continue modernizing California's campaign-disclosure systems and warned that pending federal proposals could impose large, undefined costs on counties and the state.

Tamara Johnson, chief financial officer for the Secretary of State, asked the subcommittee for a one-time $15,000,000 allocation from the General Fund to support the second year of the Cal Access Replacement System (CARS) project and outlined a separate request for federal spending authority tied to Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds to support VoteCal operations.

The requests are part of a broader briefing that also covered election security and the possible consequences if the presidential executive order discussed in Washington and the SAVE Act were to survive legal challenges and become law. Johnson said the CARS request “would provide funding to support the second year of project execution” and that the project is operating within the currently approved scope, schedule and budget. The office told the committee the CARS project is funded within a $22.2 million budget for 2024–25 and that it is planning to roll out the new system to users in November 2026.

Why this matters: California maintains one of the largest voter rolls in the country and the state's systems and counties would shoulder much of any new documentary proof-of-citizenship regime. Tamara Johnson and other officials warned that compliance with such federal mandates would require large but unestimated expenditures at county registrars and at the Secretary of State’s office, including new staff, upgraded IT systems and wide-scale voter outreach.

Details from the hearing

- CARS and Cal Access replacement: Johnson described the CARS project as “to replace the outdated Cal Access system, for electronic reporting of campaign finance and lobbying activities.” The BCP before the committee requested a one-time $15,000,000 General Fund appropriation to support continued project work, funding for 33 previously approved positions, contracted services (including the prime vendor and Department of Technology oversight), and technology costs.

- VoteCal and HAVA spending plan: The Secretary of State also requested federal trust-fund authority—$10,900,000 in one-time spending authority from the Federal Trust Fund—to support VoteCal maintenance and HAVA-related activities including vendor maintenance, security assessments, county assistance, election auditing support, and cloud hosting costs.

- Timeline and budgeting: John Heinlein, assistant project director for CARS, said this fiscal year represents a full year of project execution (designing and developing the solution) and that future fiscal years will include rollout and operations phases. The office told the subcommittee that it expects to deploy the new CARS solution for users in November 2026, after the general election.

- Risks and federal proposals: Tamara Johnson and Jenna Lee, chief of the Elections Division, said California does not have reliable dollar estimates for the cost of complying with a federal executive order or the SAVE Act, but described the likely impacts: sharply increased demand for vital records (birth certificates), requirements that new registrants or registrants who update records appear in person to present documentary proof of citizenship, county IT upgrades, and major outreach and education needs. Johnson said, “the short answer is no” when asked whether the state currently has the resources to protect voters from disenfranchisement if both a presidential executive order and the SAVE Act required compliance.

- Existing safeguards and scale of the problem: Jenna Lee said it is “extremely rare” for a noncitizen to be registered to vote in California but emphasized that citizenship is self-certified at registration “under penalty of perjury.” The Secretary of State’s office repeated that California currently has about 22 million registered voters and that roughly 83% of eligible Californians are registered, figures the office cited to underline the scale of any new requirements.

- Oversight and outside reviewers: Department of Finance staff attended and had no immediate comment; the Legislative Analyst’s Office told the committee it “raises no concerns” about project execution but noted uncertainty about federal legislative outcomes.

Public comment and next steps

No final votes or appropriations were taken at the hearing. Agency leaders asked the committee for the requested budget authority; staff answered committee questions and offered to provide more detailed revenue and fee data to members. The Secretary of State’s office said it would continue to work with counties and other state partners on planning and mitigation but that large costs and operational changes could follow federal mandates.

Ending

The subcommittee closed the Secretary of State items without taking a vote and moved to the next agenda topic. The CARS and HAVA funding requests remain proposals under review by the Legislature; the Secretary of State told lawmakers it would provide additional details to committee staff if requested.