Orange County’s elections chief is set to speak with Huntington Beach City Council members about election security on Tuesday night as officials have been eying voter ID.
City leaders are currently working to implement a new voter ID program that would require anyone voting in person in Surf City to show a government issued ID, but the program is currently on hold after a panel of appeals court judges ruled against the city’s program.
[Read: Huntington Beach’s Voter ID Law Struck Down by State Appeals Court]
Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page has questioned the cost of voter ID in the past, kicking off a local debate as Republican leaders criticized him and called Page retract his statements while Democrat leaders praised his position.
[Read: Santana: Costing Out Voter ID Gets Political in OC]
Now, Page is set to talk with Huntington Beach leaders about what voting looks like in their city.
After publication, Page clarified that his past comments were related to a separate voter ID initiative that would have required voters to provide proof of citizenship at his office, but not at the polls.
Page said he’s looking forward to speaking with city leaders about election security, and that he’d answer any questions on voter ID they have.
Page’s expected visit comes a month after city leaders hosted Unite for Freedom, a volunteer group that claims they found over 14 million illegal ballots that were counted throughout the United States and that they couldn’t verify the identity of one in five Orange County voters – a claim that hasn’t been supported by any local voting official.
Council members then unanimously invited Page to come speak after residents complained about Unite for Freedom’s presentation.
“When we had United First here a couple weeks ago, we got a slew of emails and phone calls about balancing the presentation,” said Councilman Butch Twining at the council’s Oct. 21 meeting. “I took the phone calls and all the emails to heart. “
Page is also currently facing a lawsuit from the federal Department of Justice, seeking 17 peoples’ voting data prosecutors requested amid a probe of alleged noncitizen voting.
[Read: OC Supervisors Reject Idea to Settle Voting Records Lawsuit with DOJ]
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.