California bill banning voter ID passes legislature, awaits Newsom’s signature

Democrats want to prevent local jurisdictions from requiring identification to vote

A California bill that would ban local governments from requiring IDs in elections has passed the state’s far-left Assembly and now awaits approval or veto from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The measure would prohibit local governments like Huntington Beach — where the City Council just got voter approval to impose such a requirement — from requiring voters to prove their identityand transfers jurisdiction over such laws to the stands.

“I have repeatedly told the Huntington Beach City Council members who have raised this issue that if they could provide evidence of widespread voter fraud, I would lead the effort to change California’s voting eligibility rules. They have not provided any evidence,” said Irvine Democrat Senator Dave Min, whose Senate Bill 1174 passed the House on an Aug. 27 vote of 57-16.

The bill passed the Senate in a 30-8 vote in May.

According to Min, the bill would protect against a “patchwork of different election requirements” across the Golden State – blocking all cities that require voters to show a government-issued ID to voteThe ban also applies to charter cities.

“We can’t have 100 different charter cities creating 100 different sets of voting rules based on fringe conspiracy theories,” Min said, referring to those who question the results of the 2020 election.

As the Era times further notes that during a Senate hearing on May 21, Min said SB 1174 would create a nationwide standard that prevents cities from enacting their own policies, which he said could create inequities.

“SB 1174 would attempt to address this issue and ensure that local jurisdictions cannot impose their own voter ID requirements in an attempt to wage culture wars and discourage voters.“, he said.

In a recent analysis of a bill from the Assembly for Local Government, Min argued that requiring ID only creates barriers for voters, but offers no protection against fraud. After all, voters already have to verify their identity when they register.

“Healthy democracies rely on robust access to the ballot box. An overwhelming body of evidence shows that voter ID laws only undermine voter turnout and create barriers for law-abiding voters.“, he said.

He said the state already automatically recounts some ballots, verifies signatures and allows voters to track their ballots.

“We will not give in to schemes to fraud voters as long as there is an overwhelming amount of evidence showing that our elections are safe, secure and fair,” he said.

California voters are only required to provide identification if they did not provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when they registered., but the State Secretary also accepts credit cards, debit cards, student cards or an identity document from a commercial institution.

For mail-in ballots, those without proper identification are treated as provisional ballots under existing state law and election officials must ask for proof before counting them. In the state’s 2022 general election, 660 ballots were rejected due to identification issues.

During the March 5 primary election, voters in Huntington Beach, a charter city in Orange County, approved a charter amendment to require state IDs in municipal elections beginning in 2026.

But according to Min, if SB 1174 is signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it would invalidate the city’s Measure A law before it goes into effect.

Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates told The Epoch Times in a recent interview that Min’s bill is “pure political symbolism” in response to the city’s recently passed measure.

He said that as a charter city, Huntington Beach is entitled to voter ID under Article XI, Section 5(b) of the California Constitution and that the state will lose any legal challenges.

“The state is rushing headlong into another legal battle, which it will lose miserably. Huntington Beach is right, the state is dead wrong. And all Californians want election integrity. That’s common sense,” he said in a text message to The Epoch Times.

Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said residents would feel safer if their IDs were checked in person at the polls.

“We put it on the ballot, they said we want this, and the state is doing everything it can to stop us from honoring what the voters asked us to do.” she told The Epoch Times in an interview in May, when Min’s bill first passed the Senate.

California is one of 15 states that does not require photo IDs at the polls, according to lawmakers.

Newsom has until September 30 to sign or veto the bill.

Travis Gillmore contributed to this report.

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