Progressives talk a lot about the need to preserve democracy, but in practice this seems to involve using tactics to ensure they win elections.

Take Huntington Beach, California, a city of 194,000, whose residents recently approved a requirement for voter ID in elections – a form of which is mandatory in 36 states and almost every industrialized democracy.

But California progressives pride themselves on squelching calls for voter ID to the point of making it illegal for any election official to request ID at a polling place. The state legislature moved with lightning speed to block the Huntington Beach measure in fear that it would spread to other cities.

A bill has just landed on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk that would ban all local governments from enacting voter ID laws. He is almost certain to sign it. “An overwhelming body of evidence proves that voter ID laws only subvert voter turnout and create barriers to law abiding voters,” claimed the bill’s author, State Senator David Min.

An amendment to Min’s bill in the Assembly would have merely made it clear that undocumented immigrants are banned from voting. It was overwhelmingly defeated.

Massive majorities of voters support voter ID laws. A recent Pew Research poll found 81% support for voter ID overall, with Hispanics at 85%, Asians at 84%, and African-Americans at 75%.