{"id":2225040,"date":"2024-04-19T08:57:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T12:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-sues-huntington-beach-for-voter-approved-id-requirement-for-elections\/"},"modified":"2024-04-19T09:03:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T13:03:05","slug":"california-sues-huntington-beach-for-voter-approved-id-requirement-for-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-sues-huntington-beach-for-voter-approved-id-requirement-for-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"California files a lawsuit against Huntington Beach over voter-approved ID rule for elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-sues-huntington-beach-for-voter-approved-id-requirement-for-elections%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2225040&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>California Attorney General Rob Bonta\u2063 and \u2062Secretary of State \u2062Shirley Weber have\u2063 filed a lawsuit against the City of Huntington Beach regarding its voter-approved ID requirement for city elections starting in 2026.\u2063 The issue revolves around the alleged violation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-attorney-phil-kline-and-it-expert-j-r-carlson-presser-wednesday-exposing-mark-zuckerbergs-dark-money-cash-for-chaos\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Attorney Phil Kline and IT Expert J.R. Carlson Presser Wednesday Exposing Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s Dark Money Cash for Chaos\">state election law<\/a> due to the city&#8217;s election consolidation practices. The lawsuit challenges the legitimacy of this voter ID mandate and its\u200c conflict with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/where-is-kristi-noem-as-her-corporate-sponsors-take-over-constituents-land\/\" title=\"Where is Kristi Noem while corporate sponsors seize constituents' land?\">existing state regulations<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber filed a lawsuit against the City of Huntington Beach over its voter-approved ID requirement for voting in city elections starting in 2026. <\/p>\n<p>While Bonta alleges the city\u2019s requirement violates state election law because the city tends to consolidate its elections with federal and state elections, city lawyers say the legislature\u2019s ongoing attempt to pass a state law banning local voter ID requirements demonstrates such a law does not exist. <\/p>\n<p>The voter ID measure, approved by 53.4% of city voters in the March 5, 2024 election, requires voters to prove they are citizens, 18 or older, and residents by showing government-issued identification. The ballot measure also approved proposals to require the city to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-judge-rules-arizona-activist-group-can-monitor-maricopa-county-ballot-drop-boxes\/\" title=\"Federal Judge Rules Arizona Activist Group Can Monitor Maricopa County Ballot Drop Boxes\">monitor ballot drop boxes<\/a> and provide more handicapped accessible polling locations. <\/p>\n<p>Bonta has also <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/system\/files\/attachments\/press-docs\/9-28-23%20HUNTINGTON%20BEACH%20VOTER%20ID%20BALLOT%20MEASURE_LETTER.pdf\">warned<\/a><\/strong> drop box monitoring could go against state law banning video recording with the \u201cintent of dissuading another person from voting.\u201d Bonta did not elaborate how city recording of ballot boxes could dissuade voting. <\/p>\n<p>In a letter to Huntington Beach before the election, Bonta <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/system\/files\/attachments\/press-docs\/9-28-23%20HUNTINGTON%20BEACH%20VOTER%20ID%20BALLOT%20MEASURE_LETTER.pdf\">explained<\/a><\/strong> the city\u2019s ID requirement would violate state election law saying: a voter\u2019s identity or eligibility to vote may only be questioned by election workers on narrow grounds, and only with evidence constituting probable cause to justify such a challenge; a challenged voter need only take a sworn oath of affirmation to remedy the challenge; and all doubts are to be resolved in favor of the challenged voter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy requiring additional documentation to establish a voter\u2019s identity and eligibility to vote at the time of voting \u2014 a higher standard of proof than set out in the Elections Code \u2014 Huntington Beach\u2019s proposal conflicts with state law,\u201d wrote Bonta.<\/p>\n<p>In its defense, the city cites the state constitution, which says city charters provide, \u201cin addition to those provisions allowable by this Constitution, and by the laws of the State,\u201d say over \u201cconduct of city elections\u201d and \u201cthe manner in which, the method by which, the times at which, and the terms for which the several municipal officers and employees whose compensation is paid by the city shall be elected or appointed.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>The voter ID requirement <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ocvote.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/elections\/2024%20Primary\/HBEA%201%20-%20LAYOUT.pdf\">amended<\/a><\/strong> the city charter to add a provision saying that when state and charter provisions for municipal elections conflict, charter provisions \u2014 including the voter ID requirement \u2014 shall prevail. While the city says its rule only applies to municipal elections, the fact that the city\u2019s elections tend to happen at the same time as county, state and federal elections means that it could be unclear to voters which election they have to present identification for. <\/p>\n<p>Bonta\u2019s lawsuit, meanwhile, affirms standard doctrine that the state\u2019s city charters system leaves cities with supremacy over municipal affairs, \u201cstate law is supreme with respect to matters of \u2018statewide concern,\u201d and that in the case of the city\u2019s election qualification law contrasting with state election law, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-strikes-down-san-francisco-law-allowing-non-citizens-to-vote\/\" title=\"Judge Strikes Down San Francisco Law Allowing Non-Citizens To Vote\">state law supersedes<\/a> the city charter. <\/p>\n<p>In a press release, City Attorney Michael Gates said, \u201cThe Attorney General\u2019s press release that the city\u2019s Voter ID requirements violate state law is inconsistent with, in fact in direct conflict with, (state) Sen. David Min\u2019s, D-Irvine, new bill attempting to make Huntington Beach\u2019s Voter ID illegal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Min\u2019s SB 1174 was introduced in the month before the March 5 election approving the voter ID measure, and would both prohibit local voter ID laws, and would \u201cinclude findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.\u201d SB 1174 passed the Senate Elections Committee and is set for its next hearing with the Senate Local Government and Finance Committee on May 1. <\/p>\n<p>In response to Bonta\u2019s lawsuit and Gates\u2019 claim, Min said in a public statement that while it\u2019s \u201cclear that no charter city can implement election requirements that might impact voters voting for county, state, or federal elections,\u201d without SB 1174, \u201cit is not yet decided, and therefore ambiguous, whether a charter city could hold its own elections\u2014with its own unique election requirements\u2014at a different time and place from other elections.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSB 1174 would clear away any ambiguity and make clear that charter cities could not implement their own voter ID requirements under any circumstances,\u201d continued Min. <\/p>\n<p>If SB 1174 does not pass or is determined to be illegal, some legal experts say Huntington\u2019s measure could be upheld if the city ran completely separate elections from county, state, and federal elections that would continue to be run by the county. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey would have to train staff to administer an election and to maintain its own election equipment,\u201d said Nahal Kazemi, an assistant professor at Chapman University\u2019s law school, to City News Service. \u201cIt would be difficult, expensive and challenging for a city to undertake this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kazemi noted this would probably confuse voters, which she says is \u201cthe strongest argument the state has.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California AG Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber sue Huntington Beach for its voter-approved ID mandate for city elections from 2026. Bonta claims the requirement breaches state election laws as the city often consolidates its elections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2225041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24023831911329-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2225040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP24023831911329-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2225040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2225040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2225041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2225040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2225040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2225040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}