Surf City leaders said they’re ready to fight the Attorney General in their third lawsuit with the state after the state’s top elections official said the city’s plans to implement new voter ID requirements is illegal.
Huntington Beach’s new measure requiring voter ID in local elections was passed by city voters in the March 5 primary election.
It also gives city leaders the power to set up monitoring for ballot boxes.
The city law doesn’t impact anyone who votes by mail, only those who vote in person.
In the lead up to the primary election, California Attorney General Rob Bonta threatened to sue the city if the measure passed and followed through on that threat earlier this week – filing a lawsuit alongside secretary of state Shirley Weber to block any effort to implement voter ID.
[Read: CA Attorney General Sues Huntington Beach Over Voter ID Law]
Now, city leaders are accusing Bonta, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders of running a “tyrannical” government determined to reduce local authority.
At a Thursday news conference, Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said Huntington Beach would serve as the “tip of the spear” in the fight against Sacramento.
She also called on other cities to join their lawsuit to fight the state in favor of voter ID requirements, noting that an ID was required for nearly every other part of life.
“Those of us who grew up poor are by no means too ignorant to figure out how to get an ID,” Van Der Mark said. “The city’s ability to ensure election integrity comes directly from the California Constitution.”
She pointed out how when she came to vote in March, the only information she was required to provide was her address and her name.
“Anyone who knew my name and address could’ve walked in and said I’m Gracey Van Der Mark,” she said. “We have several residents who that has happened to … I didn’t feel very secure.”
Bonta, in his court filing, said state law overrides municipal ordinances when it comes to elections.
“Under the California Constitution, the laws of charter cities supersede state law with respect to ‘municipal affairs,’ but state law is supreme with respect to matters of ‘statewide concern,’” reads the filing. “Where local law conflicts with state law reasonably tailored to the resolution of a statewide concern, the local law is preempted and invalid.”
“State law concerning voter eligibility and the right to cast a ballot in municipal, state, and federal elections addresses matters of statewide concern. Protecting the integrity of the electoral process, at both the state and local level, is a matter of statewide concern,” reads Bonta’s filing.
While California does not require ID to vote, 38 of the 50 US states require some form of ID to vote according to nonprofit VoteRiders.
City Councilman Pat Burns also claimed the state was “probably planning reeducation camps for us who dissent against them.”
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Orange County, with District Attorney Todd Spitzer noting earlier this year that while his office had reviewed cases of accused voter fraud, none of them panned out.
“I have not prosecuted one of those cases where somebody voted twice,” Spitzer said at a news conference in February. “I can say systematically, all the categories, all the hypotheticals you can give me, we have not prosecuted a person under those particular statutes.”
Bob Page, the county registrar of voters, declined to comment on Thursday if he would implement voter ID for the city in upcoming elections, citing the new litigation.
On Thursday, Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates also said the state’s lawsuit will fail, citing a case the attorney general lost in Redondo Beach on municipal elections.
“The court of appeal made it very clear in that case that local elections are local municipal affairs,” Gates said. “The state is not fighting the city for breaking the law – the state is fighting the city for following the law … I will not stand idly by and allow the state to bully this city.”
The case Gates cited wasn’t about voter ID – it was about the timing of when a school board election could take place, and the state Court of Appeals sided with Redondo Beach in saying that the timing of an election was up to city leaders.
The new case represents the city’s third lawsuit with Bonta, as they’re currently wrapped up in two other cases fighting the state’s mandated zoning for housing in the city.
[Read: Huntington Beach Barred From Approving Any New Housing Developments]
“We’re living in times where people are afraid of the government,” Van Der Mark said. “If that’s not tyranny I don’t know what is.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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