A conservative enclave in Southern California is embroiled in a legal dispute with state liberal officials over a voter ID law passed with more than 50% of city voters.
Huntington Beach Mayor Gracie Van Der Mark told Fox News Digital that the latest lawsuit from Sacramento officials is just another targeted attack on the city’s values.
“I’m a person of color, and I grew up in a low-income community in Los Angeles, where everyone had identification,” Van der Mark said in an interview Thursday on Fox News Digital. “And what really pisses me off is that people like me are being told that we’re too ignorant or too incapable of getting an ID. That’s insulting.”
“This is definitely government overreach,” she said.
It was filed by California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber. lawsuitThis week, the beach city, located about 55 miles south of Los Angeles, filed a challenge to Measure A, a voter ID law that would amend the city’s charter to include a voter ID requirement by 2026. The bill also includes additional in-person voting requirements where.
California sues Huntington Beach over voter ID law supported by majority of California residents
Huntington Beach Mayor Gracie Van Der Mark is defending the city’s voter ID law passed by voters in March 2024. (Getty Images)
“They’re telling us, ‘Okay, we don’t need these safety measures,’ but we’re insisting on it,” said Van der Mark, who was elected in 2023. “So they can sue us. We’re going to move forward and do what the people want us to do.”
Bonta and Weber argued in their lawsuit that the city’s voter ID law “unlawfully conflicts with and supersedes state law.”
“The right to vote freely is a cornerstone of our democracy, and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy violates this principle,” Bonta said in a statement.
He argued that state elections already include “strict voter ID requirements with strong protections to prevent voter fraud.” He said the new requirements would disproportionately burden “low-income voters, voters of color, young and older voters, and people with disabilities.”
AG Garland vows to fight voter ID laws and election integrity measures
Waves crash against the Huntington Beach Pier, the center of the city’s beach culture, on February 22, 2024 in Huntington Beach, California. (Rick Loomis of The Washington Post, via Getty Images)
The City Council, which has been led by a politically conservative majority since 2022, has recently been controversial on a variety of issues, including government-only flag protocols on city property and the removal of sexually explicit books from public libraries. This decision sparked considerable debate.
“The city of Sacramento is trying to set an example in Huntington Beach,” Van der Mark said. “They’re suing us at every opportunity, and every time we do something, they object to what we’re doing or they come up with legislation that would make what we’re doing illegal. So I think they’re trying to sway us into submission, but we’re not going to allow that to happen. ”
Gascón says the suspect who invaded La Mayor was ‘targeting’ buses.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach last week challenging Measure A, the voter ID law. (Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
California officials first warned Huntington Beach officials in September to withdraw the voter ID proposal. The lawsuit says Measure A violates state law and is invalid because it violates the California Constitution, which gives charter cities the power to govern “municipal government” but prohibits local laws from conflicting with statewide laws. It is claimed that
According to the AG’s Office, current California law “establishes a registered voter’s identity before they go to the polls. At the polling place, registered voters only need to provide their name and address; No identification is required.”
This is not the first time the state has threatened conservative cities over passing local laws. Last year, Bonta threatened several school districts over their parent notification policies.
Fox News’ Bradford Bretz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
