California bans voter ID laws—Elon Musk says this makes preventing voter fraud illegal

On Monday, California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill preventing local governments from requiring voters to present identification at the polls. 

Monday evening, X CEO Elon Musk posted in response to the legislation, “Wow, it is now illegal to require voter ID in California! They just made PREVENTING voter fraud against the law.”

He then referred to Newsom, saying, “The Joker is in charge.” Earlier in September, Musk used the same insult when tearing into Newsom for outlawing political AI videos or deepfakes, saying at the time, "The Joker is in charge."

The new legislation is in a response to Huntington Beach residents passing a voter ID requirement in March. In April, California’s Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and Democratic Secretary of State Shirley Weber sued the city to invalidate the law, claiming the legislation violated state voting protections.

The bill was passed by the Democratic-controlled California Assembly and Senate earlier this year after members claimed voter ID laws disproportionately affect low-income, elderly and minority voters. The new bill goes into effect on January 1, 2025 when California will become one of 14 states that do not require voter ID for elections.

Despite the bill being signed into law, Huntington Beach has yet to respond to the lawsuit. According to Newsweek, California's Democratic lawmakers have introduced multiple bills to prevent conservative-leaning locations in the state such as Shasta County from adopting voter ID laws.