Huntington Beach’s Measure A allowing voter ID to be implemented in future elections is winning with voters; if it does pass, the city will next have to navigate how it will be implemented while likely warding off challenges hoping to stop it.
“Whatever we need to do to make sure it goes smoothly, we will move forward on,” said Councilmember Tony Strickland, a member of the council’s conservative majority that put the measure on Tuesday’s primary ballot.
The voter ID measure would be an update to Huntington Beach’s charter, saying the city “may” verify the eligibility of voters by requiring they show identification beginning in 2026 for all municipal elections. The state attorney general and secretary of state have pledged to take action “to ensure voters’ rights are protected,” but so far haven’t publicly pushed the issue since sending a letter last fall.
Measure A also says the city may provide at least 20 ADA-compliant in-person polling locations and monitor ballot drop boxes within the city.
“I know a lot of people that vote in person. And when they vote in person they don’t understand why you don’t show your ID,” Councilmember Casey McKeon said.
Even though the update that would be made to the city charter says “may,” Strickland said the city will move forward to implement it by 2026. But the details for what voter ID will look like in practice will have to be worked out by the City Council, they weren’t laid out in the measure put on Tuesday’s primary ballot.
More than 47,000 people voted in the election. As of Friday, March 8, 52% were in support – the OC Registrar of Voters is still processing more than 188,000 mailed-in, dropped-off and other ballots and has until April 5 to certify the results with the state.
Then, at some point, the city clerk will have to ask the registrar office if it’ll work with the city to add the identification requirement at local polling places.
But, Fred Smoller, a political…
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