Kern County implications California v. City of Huntington Beach election lawsuit

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The coastal city of Huntington Beach is in hot legal waters for violating state election law.

Monday morning, the state of California sued the city. Huntington Beach is attempting to mandate voter identification for all municipal elections. It’s set to begin in 2026.

Calls for that same change in the elections process have long rung in Kern County too.

Supporters say requiring voter ID ups election integrity; opponents say they worry it ups voter suppression.

“We are suing the city of Huntington Beach,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta. “[Requiring voter ID] restricts the ability for folks to potentially vote at the polls.”

During the March primary election, Huntington Beach voters voted on Charter Amendment Measure Number 1, which mandates voter identification for municipal elections.

But requiring voter ID when voting is barred by California election law. And now, the state lawsuit is seeking an invalidation of the amendment.

“I obviously have tremendous concern knowing what can happen when we actually begin to get into this voter ID at the time of voting,” California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said. “We can actually disenfranchise an awful lot of people.”

But supporters of a voter ID checks say voting as it is now is on the “honor system.”

“All the issues associated with voter rolls, dead people being on voter rolls, people that have moved out of the state, people that have moved out of the county, all those issues go away [with mandated voter ID],” said Tom Pavich, Kern County Coordinator of the California Election Integrity Project.

Pavich added, “Everyone has an ID. Is it that difficult to pull an ID out of your wallet or out of your purse? No, I don’t believe so, and I don;’t think any voter believes so.”

Pavich also said a picture — in this case, the picture on one’s identification card — is worth a thousand words.

Thus, the concerned voter stated, if an eligible voter does not have the needed identification, elections should “go out of our way” to ensure they get one.

According to League of Women voters, a nonpartisan political organization, voter identification is a form of “restrictive voting law” dating back to the Jim Crow era.

“We’ve had experiences here in California as well as jurisdictions in other states where voter ID laws were used to suppress voter turnout,” said Chris Micheli, an adjust professor of the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

The election law expert added, “Requiring ID at the time of a vote could adversely impact low income individuals of color who may be dissuaded from attempting to cast their vote in that sort of situation… The reality is that we have seen that happen in the past. That’s one of the reasons why California prohibits that so we don’t have different jurisdictions imposing different voter ID requirements.”

A 17 News in-depth report found in Kern County, voter fraud is rare.

Only 56 people have been charged since 1956.

The District Attorney’s office says no case of voter fraud has been filed so far in the 2024 elections.

“It is really a solution looking for a problem because we have not found this problem,” Secretary Weber stated about Huntington Beach’s concerns of voter fraud.

She added, “[America] has lots of history of restrictive voting,” Secretary Weber said. “…That history is painful, and is detrimental and could have a devastating effect upon what happens in our elections.”

“If you are a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age, a resident of California, those are the three requirements,” Micheli said, noting those eligible to vote here in the Golden State.

Non-citizens cannot register to vote.

On the necessity of voter ID, Micheli responded, “State law requires voter ID to be provided at the time of registration. So once somebody has provided their ID to register to vote, there’s no reason for a secondary check by a local elections official.”

Attorney General Bonta echoed that sentiment: “We have very strict registration requirements and then we have more expedited voting processes where you provide your name and your address, and any additional restriction beyond that imposed by a local jurisdiction would be unlawful.”

In response to the lawsuit, Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates stated in part, “The people of Huntington Beach have made their voices clear on this issue and the people’s decision on the March 5th ballot measures for election integrity is final.”

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