A conservative enclave in Southern California is embroiled in a authorized dispute with the state’s liberal authorities over its voter ID legislation that was handed by greater than 50% of the town’s voters.
Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark informed Fox News Digital the most recent lawsuit from Sacramento authorities is simply one other focused assault on the town’s values.
“I’m a person of color, I grew up in a low-income community in Los Angeles, and we all had IDs,” Van Der Mark informed Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday. “And one thing that is really frustrating is they’re saying, people like me are too ignorant or incapable of getting an ID, and that’s insulting.”
“This is definitely government overreach,” she stated.
California’s Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber filed a lawsuit final week towards the seashore metropolis – which is roughly 35 miles south of Los Angeles – difficult its voter ID legislation, Measure A, which amends the town’s constitution to permit voter ID necessities by 2026. It additionally features a requirement for extra in-person voting areas.
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“They’re telling us ‘it’s okay, we don’t need these measures of security,’ but we’re insisting on them,” Van Der Mark, elected in 2023, stated. “So, they can sue us. We’re going to push forward and do what the people want us to do.”
In their lawsuit, Bonta and Weber argued that the town’s voter ID legislation “unlawfully conflicts and is preempted by 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,” Bonta stated in a press release.
He argued that state elections already comprise “robust voter ID requirements with strong protections to prevent voter fraud.” He stated the brand new necessities would disproportionately burden “low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.”
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The City Council, led by a politically conservative majority since 2022, stirred appreciable debate by making contentious selections on numerous points not too long ago, just like the government-only flag protocol on metropolis properties and removing of sexually express books within the public library.
“Sacramento is trying to make an example out of Huntington Beach,” Van Der Mark stated. “They’re suing us every opportunity they can and every time we do something, they try to write bills to counter what we’re doing or to make what we’re doing illegal. So, I believe they’re trying to sway us into submission, and we’re not going to allow that to happen.”
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California officers first warned Huntington Beach officers to drop the voter ID proposal in September. The lawsuit argues that Measure A violates state legislation and is invalid as a result of it conflicts with California’s Constitution, which grants constitution cities the authority to control “municipal affairs” however prohibits native legal guidelines from conflicting with statewide legal guidelines.
Under present California legislation, in line with the AG’s workplace, “voter identity is established before registered voters get to the polls; at the polls, registered voters are only required to provide their name and address – no further identification is required.”
This isn’t the primary time the state has threatened a conservative metropolis over native legal guidelines handed. Last yr, Bonta threatened a number of college districts over their parental notification insurance policies.
Fox News’ Bradford Bretz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.