A legal dispute has arisen between a conservative city in Southern California and the state’s liberal authorities over a voter ID law that was passed by over 50% of the city’s voters. The city, Huntington Beach, Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark believes that the lawsuit from Sacramento authorities is an attack on the city’s values. She views the argument that people, like herself, are incapable of getting an ID as insulting. California’s Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber have filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach challenging its voter ID law, Measure A, which amends the city’s charter to allow voter ID requirements by 2026. The city is standing by the law, despite the lawsuit.
The Huntington Beach City Council, which has been politically conservative since 2022, has made several contentious decisions recently, leading to debate. These decisions include a government-only flag protocol on city properties and the removal of sexually explicit books from the public library. Van Der Mark believes that Sacramento is trying to make an example out of Huntington Beach by suing the city and attempting to sway them into submission. The city is not backing down and is determined to do what the people want.
The lawsuit filed against Huntington Beach argues that Measure A violates state law and is invalid because it conflicts with California’s Constitution. The state officials believe that voter ID requirements would disproportionately burden certain groups of voters, such as low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities. The Attorney General’s office stated that voter identity is established before registered voters get to the polls, and only a name and address are required at the polls, with no further identification needed.
Mayor Van Der Mark is standing firm against the lawsuit, stating that the city will push forward with the voter ID law despite the legal challenges. She views the state’s actions as government overreach and believes that they are trying to counter and make illegal whatever the city is doing. The city has been threatened by the state before over local laws passed, with last year’s threat to several school districts over their parental notification policies. Huntington Beach continues to defend its decisions and values in the face of legal action from the state.
The state authorities, including California’s Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, argue that Huntington Beach’s voter ID law conflicts with state law and preempts it. They believe that state election laws already contain robust voter ID requirements with protections against voter fraud. They also claim that the new requirements would burden certain groups of voters. However, Huntington Beach is determined to move forward with implementing the voter ID law as desired by the majority of the city’s residents.
Mayor Van Der Mark, who grew up in a low-income community in Los Angeles, finds the argument that people like herself are too ignorant or incapable of getting an ID insulting. She believes that the state is attempting to make an example out of Huntington Beach and sway the city into submission by suing them and writing bills to counter their actions. Despite the legal challenges and threats from the state, the city’s conservative leadership remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding the voter ID law and standing by the decisions made by the city council.
