Joker in charge: Elon Musk slams California law banning local rules on voter ID

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law legislation that prohibits local governments in the state from requiring voters to show identification (ID) at polling places, including in municipal elections. The law, SB 1174, directly responds to a measure passed in Huntington Beach, where over 50% of residents voted in March to require ID for voting in local elections.

However, the Huntington Beach measure conflicts with state law, prompting California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber to file a lawsuit against the city to block the enforcement of the voter ID requirement.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacted strongly to the new law. On his social media platform X, Musk criticised the decision, claiming that the new law would encourage voter fraud.

“Wow, it is now illegal to require voter ID in California! They just made PREVENTING voter fraud against the law. The Joker is in charge,” Musk wrote on X.

Attorney General Bonta, in a statement after the lawsuit was filed, said the Huntington Beach voter ID rules were harmful.

"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," said Bonta, reported Democracy Docket.

He added that California’s existing laws already have protections in place to ensure election integrity without adding burdens on voters, particularly low-income residents, people of colour, the elderly, and those with disabilities.

The new law, introduced by State Senator David Min, specifically prevents local governments from creating their own voter ID requirements for municipal elections. Min expressed concern about the potential chaos if different cities enacted their own voting rules.

"We cannot have 100 different charter cities making up 100 different sets of voting rules, based on fringe conspiracy theories," Min said, according to Los Angeles Times.

He also challenged proponents of stricter voter ID laws to provide evidence of widespread voter fraud, noting that no such evidence exists in California.

The bill, SB 1174, passed in August, applies to all local elections in California, including charter cities like Huntington Beach, which operate under their own local laws. The state law overrides any local efforts to introduce voter ID requirements unless mandated by state or federal law.

As of now, Huntington Beach has not responded to the ongoing lawsuit or the new law, which prevents the city from enforcing its voter ID measure for municipal elections.