California is suing Huntington Beach over its voter identification measure, recently passed by voters, hoping to stop the city from asking residents to present proof of identification when voting at in-person polling locations.
“It is violative of California state election law, undermines that process and threatens the constitutionally protected right to vote,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta at a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, April 15.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who oversees elections across California, said the voter ID requirement would disenfranchise voters and called it a solution in search of a problem.
“This voter ID measure conflicts with state law,” Weber said at the same press conference. “Not only is it a solution in search of a problem, laws like these are harmful to California voters, especially low-income, the elderly, people of color, those with disabilities, and young voters.”
Attorney General Rob Bonta announces with Secretary of State Shirley Weber that they filed a lawsuit to challenge Huntington Beach’s voter identification law to protect voter rights in the Orange County city in Los Angeles on Monday, April 15, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The lawsuit, filed in Orange County superior court, is seeking a court order to invalidate the charter amendment.
City Attorney Michael Gates said the people of Huntington Beach made their voices clear on the issue by voting for the measure and said the city “will vigorously uphold and defend the will of the people.”
A proposed bill from State Sen. Dave Min also seeks to prevent the city from implementing the measure by adding language to the state elections code that says cities can’t ask for IDs at voting centers.
“The attorney general’s press release that the city’s voter ID requirements violate state law is inconsistent with, in fact in direct conflict with, Sen. David Min’s new bill attempting to make Huntington Beach’s voter ID illegal,” Gates said in a statement. “That blatant inconsistency speaks volumes.”
Bonta said there is no evidence of voter fraud in Huntington Beach. He said the measure was “intentionally brazen and will now be subject to accountability in court” and added that the city has greatly overstated its authority as a charter city as it contends with the state on a number of issues.
Measure A passed during the March primary election with 53.4% of voters in favor, with about 61,000 residents voting on the proposal put on the ballot by the City Council majority. The City Council certified the election results at its April 2 meeting.
The measure, which was an update to the city’s charter, was written saying the city “may” implement voter ID, but city leaders have said it is their intention to do so in 2026. That is the earliest the measure would allow implementation.
The lawsuit states that voter ID is unlawful whether or not the city chooses to consolidate its elections by using the Orange County Registrar of Voters. It referenced previous attempts by Councilmember Tony Strickland to pass a voter ID when he was in the state legislature.
OC Registrar of Voters Bob Page said in an email that “the city has not, to date, contacted the Registrar of Voters to discuss how it wishes to conduct its municipal elections starting in 2026. We have also not received any advice from the state regarding this issue.”
Strickland said Huntington Beach will win in court and that claims about voter ID disenfranchising people were absurd.
“The people of Huntington Beach voted for this initiative,” Strickland said. “It’s not shocking they want to thwart the will of the people.”
Bonta and Weber in September had already promised to take action when the council was discussing placing the measure on ballots.
“We informed (the city) back in the fall, if you put this on the ballot, this is against California law,” Weber said. “None of them ever responded to that.”
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Weber said if Huntington Beach had voter ID, her parents and grandparents wouldn’t have been able to vote since they lacked birth records. Her family came to California from rural Arkansas.
“My grandfather who served in World War I has no record of his birth,” Weber said. “He has no record of it. He could not show it.”
Measure A also says the city may move to monitor ballot drop box locations within the city and provide more in-person polling locations.
Bonta said the state’s complaint doesn’t address monitoring ballot drop boxes, but “we are interested in how it gets implemented.” He said there are already prohibitions in state law of using video to undermine someone’s right to vote.
Councilmember Rhonda Bolton, who voted against putting the measure before voters, wasn’t surprised by the lawsuit and said pushing for voter ID isn’t the best investment of resources.
“In a perfect world, we would not have gone down this road to begin with,” she said.
The City Council’s conservative majority and city attorney are up for reelection in 2026.
The lawsuit is the latest battle between the state and Huntington Beach. A state judge recently said the city is likely to lose a different lawsuit filed by Bonta’s office for not planning to build more housing.
“The city of Huntington Beach has repeatedly violated the law,” Bonta said. “They are not law-abiding.”