The California legislature wants to ban local governments from adopting or enforcing voter identification laws during their elections.
Lawmakers passed a bill banning cities and municipalities from requiring voters to present some form of legal identification before they can vote.
“An overwhelming body of evidence proves that voter ID laws only subvert voter turnout and create barriers to law abiding voters,” said state Sen. Dave Min, who authored the bill, per The Washington Examiner. “To register to vote in California, voters are already required to provide their driver’s license number, California identification number, or the last four digits of their social security number.”
An amendment to Senate Bill 1174 that would have explicitly banned illegal migrants from voting was rejected.
If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs SB 1174, it would override a Huntington Beach ordinance requiring voter ID starting in 2026. The state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber have already sued Huntington Beach over the ordinance. Bonta argued in April that the policy was unlawful and conflicted with state law.
“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,” said Bonta in a 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. Imposing unnecessary obstacles to voter participation disproportionately burdens low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.”
Bonta also objected to the city’s requirement that ballot drop boxes be monitored.
“Huntington Beach argues that the fact legislators introduced SB 1174 suggests that was, in fact, permissible for its voters to approve such an ordinance,” reports CBS Austin. “As a charter city with greater rights under the state constitution, the city is likely to pursue legal options to defend its ordinance against the law, if it is signed by the governor.”
SB 1174’s passage comes a week after the United States Supreme Court agreed that Arizona can require voters to show proof of their American citizenship when registering to vote using a state form. The high court is still considering whether Arizona can require proof of citizenship when a would-be voter registers using a federal form.
At least three of the justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – have signaled they would permit all aspects of Arizona’s law to be enforced.
At least 12 states have introduced new voter ID requirements since 2020. The list includes New Hampshire, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, and Montana.
