Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation banning local governments from requiring voters to present an ID at the ballot box in order to cast a vote – a move which sparked backlash from Elon Musk, who branded Newsom as “The Joker.”
“Wow, it is now illegal to require voter ID in California! They just made PREVENTING voter fraud against the law,” Musk wrote on X late Monday. “The Joker is in charge.”
The bill was passed by the California Assembly in August after being introduced earlier in the year by state Sen. David Min, a Democrat. Newsom signed the bill into law on Thursday.
The new law was in response to the beachside city of Huntington Beach passing a voter ID amendment, Measure A, in March with the support of a majority of residents which would allow the city to require voter identification, increase in-person voting sites, and monitor ballot drop boxes in local elections. The measure won at the polls in March with 53.4% approval, county election data shows.
But Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber challenged Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, which would have amended the city’s charter to allow voter ID requirements by 2026.
In their lawsuit, Bonta and Weber argued that the city’s voter ID law “unlawfully conflicts and is preempted by state law.”
