California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Huntington Beach on Monday in an effort to prevent a voter ID law passed by city residents from taking effect.
“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, a Democrat, baselessly claimed during a press conference.
Passed by city voters during last month’s California primaries, Huntington Beach Measure A amends the city charter by authorizing the local government to require electors to provide identification to vote in municipal elections. The provision — which won’t take effect until 2026 — also allows the city to “provide more in-person voting locations” and “monitor ballot drop-boxes.”
The initiative was originally proposed and passed by Huntington Beach’s city council late last year before it was sent to voters for approval.
Prior to the council’s passage of the measure, Bonta sent a letter to Huntington Beach’s leading officials in September, claiming the measure “conflicts with state law.” He also regurgitated the debunked lie that voter ID measures “serve to suppress voter participation” and threatened to take “action” if the city council failed to withdraw the proposal.
Filed in Orange County Superior Court on Monday, Bonta’s suit contends that local laws such as Huntington Beach’s voter ID provision are “preempted and invalid” in matters in which “local law conflicts with state law reasonably tailored to the resolution of a statewide concern.”
“Under the California Constitution, the laws of charter cities supersede state
