Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning local governments from requiring voters to show identification at ballot boxes in order to cast a ballot, a move that prompted Elon to brand Newsom the “Joker.”・The mask caused a backlash.
“Wow, voter ID requirements are now illegal in California! Preventing voter fraud just broke the law,” Musk wrote on X late Monday. “Joker is in charge.”
The bill was passed by the California State Assembly in August after being introduced by Democratic state Sen. David Minn earlier this year. Newsom signed the bill into law on Thursday.
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Tesla and SpaceX co-founder Elon Musk called Gov. Gavin Newsom a “joker” in a post over voter ID requirements. (Apu Gomez/Getty Images)
The new law is in response to the seaside city of Huntington Beach passing Measure A, a voter ID amendment, in March with the support of a majority of residents, requiring the city to require voter ID. increase the number of in-person voting locations and monitor ballot drop boxes in local elections. The measure won in a March poll with 53.4% support, according to county election data.
However, Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber challenged Huntington Beach's voter ID law, which would amend the city charter to allow for voter ID requirements by 2026.
Bonta and Weber argued in their lawsuit that the city's voter ID law “unlawfully conflicts with and supersedes state law.”
California is one of 14 states that does not require voter identification at polling places, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“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 earlier this year.
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.”
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Mr. Newsom signed a bill that prohibits local governments from requiring voters to show identification at the ballot box in order to cast a ballot. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
While the case made its way through state court, Min filed Senate Bill 1174. The bill passed the state House by a vote of 57-16 and the state Senate by a vote of 30-8.
The Huntington Beach City Council has passed a series of highly debated decisions on topics ranging from flying the flag to removing books from the children's section of public libraries over concerns about the appropriateness of the material. Included voter ID measures on Monday's ballot. The move was initiated by a politically conservative City Council majority that took office in 2022, drawing large numbers of residents to city meetings on all sides of the issue.
Huntington City Attorney Michael Gates said in March that passing the voter-approved amendment was “not only permissible” but supported by the state constitution.
He vowed last week to continue enforcing Measure A.
“That bill means nothing to the city of Huntington Beach,” Michael Gates said, according to OrangeCountyLawyers.com. “The city is going to move forward with the voter ID law because it has a constitutional right to do so.”
Musk's rant is not the first time he has sparred with Newsom.
After Newsom signed a bill banning digitally altered political “deepfakes,” Musk last month told his 198 million X users that Vice President Kamala Harris' AI Encouraged them to share their research videos.
Musk also said SpaceX plans to move its California headquarters to Texas after Newsom signs the bill. The bill would prohibit school districts from requiring teachers to notify parents if a child uses different pronouns or identifies as a gender different from school records. .
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A scene from Joaquin Phoenix's “Joker.'' (AP/Warner Bros. Pictures)
SpaceX owners also argue that because the census is based on a simple head count of all residents, legal and illegal, illegal immigration gives Democratic states an unfair advantage over red states in elections. He also said that there are. He said parliamentary representation and electoral votes would be distributed based on all residents, rather than focusing only on citizens.
Musk has frequently addressed voter integrity and immigration issues, telling X in March that “not requiring photo ID to vote clearly makes it impossible to prove voter fraud. That's why the far left refuses to require photo ID to vote.”
FOX News' Bradford Betts contributed to this report.
