California Assembly Passes Bill Banning Local Voter ID Requirements

The California Assembly passed a bill that would ban voter identification requirements from being enacted at local government levels.

Senate Bill 1174, which passed in a 57-16 vote, would “prohibit a local government from enacting or enforcing any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place, voter center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted, as specified.”

The bill was introduced by California State Sen. David Min (D) and co-sponsored by California state Sen. Josh Newman (D).

“We cannot have 100 different charter cities making up 100 different sets of voting rules, based on fringe conspiracy theories,” Min said in a statement, according to the Daily Pilot. “I have repeatedly told the Huntington Beach City Council members pushing this issue that if they were to produce any evidence of widespread voter fraud, I would lead efforts to change California’s voter eligibility rules. They have not produced any such evidence.”

California Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R) reportedly attempted to include an amendment into the legislation that would have prevented illegal migrants from being able to vote in elections, according to the Center Square.

The bill’s passage comes after voters in Huntington Beach voted 53.4 percent in support of a ballot initiative that would require residents to show identification in order to vote in elections starting in 2026, according to Democracy Docket.

In April, California filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta noted that requiring people to show identification in order to vote was “blatantly and flatly illegal,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

“They have greatly overstated the authority they think they have,” Bonta said in a statement at the time. “They have willfully violated the law, they have brazenly violated the law…. They know exactly what they are doing, and they are doing it anyway.”