In abstract
A brand new regulation prohibits native governments from mandating voter identification, however Huntington Seashore is combating again.
California has develop into the newest battleground over voter identification necessities, a longtime conservative precedence newly propelled lately by election fraud complaints from President-elect Donald Trump.
Below a state regulation that takes impact on Jan. 1, native governments throughout California can be prohibited from compelling voters to current identification to solid a poll in an election.
Dave Min, an Irvine Democrat simply elected to Congress, took up the ban this yr as a state senator after Huntington Seashore voters in March adopted a constitution modification permitting the town to require ID in its municipal elections. That measure — which takes impact in 2026, and likewise grants the town authority so as to add extra in-person voting areas and monitor poll drop-boxes — was a part of a broader push by native leaders to make Huntington Seashore a bulwark of resistance towards California’s liberal governance.
Supporters consider that necessary voter identification, a preferred coverage in Republican states, can tackle rising public issues about election integrity following Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. However aside from when new voters register, Democrats in California have resisted ID necessities, which they argue disenfranchise younger, low-income, disabled and nonwhite voters with out offering any actual profit as a result of there may be not widespread election fraud.
State officers contend that requiring voter ID is already unlawful in California due to a provision within the election code that prohibits “mass, indiscriminate, and groundless challenging of voters solely for the purpose of preventing voters from voting.” Lawmakers handed the ban this summer season anyway — which Min stated would make clear any potential ambiguities round elections the place solely native points are on the poll — a part of a string of payments to crack down on native conservative rebellions.
The problem is already in court docket. Legal professional Normal Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber sued Huntington Seashore in April, looking for to invalidate its newly authorized constitution modification for interfering with state protections of voting rights. Huntington Seashore officers counter that, as a constitution metropolis, they’ve broad discretion to set their very own guidelines for municipal governance, together with election administration.
An Orange County choose dismissed that lawsuit in November, with out addressing the deserves of the coverage, concluding that there was no battle with state regulation. However Bonta and Weber, who referred to as Huntington Seashore’s voter ID requirement “a solution in search of a problem,” plan to enchantment. In the meantime, a authorized problem towards the brand new ban could also be coming quickly from the town.
