We’re not exactly shocked that the state filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach over the recently passed initiative that requires voters at polling stations to show their identification before voting – and also provides surveillance at voter drop boxes. The city’s conservative council majority spearheaded Measure A and 53 percent of voters supported it.
“By requiring additional documentation to establish a voter’s identity and eligibility to vote at the time of voting – a higher standard of proof than set out in the Elections Code – Huntington Beach’s proposal conflicts with state law,” Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber wrote to the council in September. The city was warned.
They also argued that video monitoring of drop boxes might also run afoul of state law, which places county election officials in charge of voting stations – and also limits video surveillance within 100 feet of polling stations or drop boxes. Its legality, they said, depends on the specifics of how the city intends to implement the measure, but the council seems less interested in specifics and more interested in grandstanding.
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County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in media reports that his office has never prosecuted anyone for voting twice. There is no voter-fraud problem in Huntington Beach or Orange County. This is all about posturing – and is just the latest losing battle the city is fighting with state officials over a variety of matters including state housing law.
In fact, the council members’ statements confirms the silliness of the whole exercise. “We’re living in times where people are afraid of the government,” Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said at the press spectacle, per a VoiceofOC report. Council member Tony Strickland claimed to be fulfilling the will of the people – but it appears more as a way to bolster his state Senate campaign.
It will take time and myriad legal fees, but the courts almost certainly will rebuke Huntington Beach in this and its other performative lawsuits. It’s time for the council to get back to governing and stop preening for Fox News.
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