(Headline USA) California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law this week banning local voter ID requirements.
The bill was introduced by state Democrats in response to a ballot initiative approved by the voters of Huntington Beach, a Republican-leaning city south of Los Angeles. The initiative would have required municipal election voters to show a legal form of identification at the polls.
Democratic state Sen. Dave Min, who introduced the bill signed by Newsom on Monday, argued that if local districts were allowed to pass their own voter ID requirements, there would be widespread confusion.
“We cannot have 100 different charter cities making up 100 different sets of voting rules based on fringe conspiracy theories,” he said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The new bill will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, after November’s presidential election.
Huntington Beach residents approved stricter voter ID requirements in March. However, as soon as the initiative passed, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber sued Huntington Beach to prevent the rule from being implemented, arguing that the voter ID requirements were unnecessary since state law already includes “strong protections” against fraud, and that it would discriminate against minority residents.
“The right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy flies in the face of this principle,” Bonta said in an April statement.
“State election law already contains robust voter ID requirements with strong protections to prevent voter fraud, while ensuring that every eligible voter can cast their ballot without hardship,” he claimed. “Imposing unnecessary obstacles to voter participation disproportionately burdens low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.”
California is one of 14 states that do not require voter ID for elections at either the state or federal level.
