What is the argument of the Left not to have Voter ID? It costs money. So, they want cheap, but dishonest elections. This is why elections are not trusted and politicians opposing Voter ID are not respected. If it were up to them, they would have an old style Soviet election. Kind of like Gode showing Eve to Adam and saying, now choose a wife. This is as openly corrupt as it gets.
“The controversy began just after the House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act last month, requiring a host of things like proof of citizenship to vote, which prompted Page to issue a news release announcing that implementing voter ID at the local level would cost $6 million.
Page ended his April 10 press release with a curt ask.
“Will Congress appropriate the funds local and state elections officials need to implement the SAVE Act?”
Further fueling suspicion from Republicans, Page issued his remarks the same day that California Secretary of State Shirley Weber – a statewide Democratic elected official – took issue with the SAVE Act, noting in a similar news release that legislation would “burden election administration by imposing unrealistic, costly, and unnecessary requirements on state and local elections officials and threaten them with fines and jail time for doing their jobs.”
Honest elections are an unwarranted requirement? Think we have honest elections—this shows those in charge REFUSE honest election. That is why we need the Reform California Voter ID ballot measure—force government to run honest elections.
Santana: Costing Out Voter ID Gets Political in OC
by Norberto Santana Jr., Voice of OC, 6/4/25 https://voiceofoc.org/2025/06/santana-ocs-elections-chief-accused-of-playing-politics-on-voter-id/
As political parties begin focusing on the 2026 congressional elections, Orange County’s Registrar of Voters – historically known for running stable elections – is generating uncharacteristic political drama.
With an eye on a handful of upcoming tight races here in OC that could tip the balance of power in Congress, OC Republican Party Chairman Will O’Neill is calling out OC Registrar of Voters Bob Page for allegedly playing politics by weighing in on the national voter ID bill recently approved by the House of Representatives.
At the other end of the political spectrum, the move garnered support for Page from OC Democratic Party Chairwoman Florice Hoffman.
It’s an odd place to be for an elections umpire.
O’Neill is demanding that Page formally retract his public critique of national voter ID legislation, something that Page has seemingly resisted.
Yet while Page isn’t retracting what he said in a news release last month, he has taken down the release, acknowledging the controversy they sparked.
That back up actually drew a bit of frustration from OC Democratic Party Chairwoman Hoffman, who said Page was right to point out the costs of voter ID efforts, saying it’s just one of the many aspects of the plan she and many Democrats oppose as disenfranchising voters by making voting more complicated and costly.
Meanwhile, Page has seemingly found a key supporter in Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner – one of two Republicans on the county board, who acknowledges Page’s statement was a bad move, one that’s eroded trust – but said it’s not one that overshadows his record as a competent administrator.
A News Release Kicks Up Dust
The controversy began just after the House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act last month, requiring a host of things like proof of citizenship to vote, which prompted Page to issue a news release announcing that implementing voter ID at the local level would cost $6 million.
Page ended his April 10 press release with a curt ask.
“Will Congress appropriate the funds local and state elections officials need to implement the SAVE Act?”
Further fueling suspicion from Republicans, Page issued his remarks the same day that California Secretary of State Shirley Weber – a statewide Democratic elected official – took issue with the SAVE Act, noting in a similar news release that legislation would “burden election administration by imposing unrealistic, costly, and unnecessary requirements on state and local elections officials and threaten them with fines and jail time for doing their jobs.”
Page’s press release prompted tough questioning from the local OC GOP – crying foul that his statements came across as too partisan for an elections umpire.
Right after Page’s news release went out, O’Neill issued his own, publicly calling on Page to formally retract his statement.
“Page has crossed a dangerous line by both amplifying a false and misleading partisan position and publicly criticizing a Republican-led proposal designed to strengthen election integrity,” O’Neill wrote. “He has undermined public trust in his office’s neutrality at a critical time.“
Page took down the controversial news release after O’Neill raised concerns about it.
In an interview, O’Neill said “our ask is pretty reasonable,” adding that he’s “not calling for him to lose his job or even be chastised.”
“It causes a real problem with credibility among a very, very large swatch of voters and elected officials,” he added. “And that’s a bad place to be in when it comes to something as sensitive as ballot counting.”
“If he doubles down on silence, the long term effects are pretty serious in terms of the relationship and trust his office has.”
That triggered a spirited response from Hoffman, chair of the OC Democratic Party.
“I think he did do his job,” Hoffman said, chiding Republicans as the party that usually bites back on unfunded mandates.
“We are in tight times in California. We have a deficit and Trump has made it harder for our county to get money on a host of things,” she said.
“If I were him, I would have stood by it,” Hoffman said about Page taking down his press release.
After confirming that O’Neill’s calls for a retraction had reached county supervisors’ ears, I reached out to Page for his take.
To date, county supervisors – including the Republican members – have largely backed Page, who occasionally comes under fire from residents at the county supervisors’ public meetings over perceived election integrity issues being raised since 2020.
A recent grand jury report also backed up election administration under Page.
Page arrived in OC in 2022 after serving several years as San Bernardino County’s Registrar.
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OC’s Election Chief Responds
In response to my questions about the controversy, Page limited his comment to a statement, acknowledgingthat he understood I “reached out to ask me about the Republican Party of Orange County’s April 14 request that I recant my April 10 statement about the SAVE Act.”
I’m not sure how best to describe his response – so I figured I’d just quote him directly.
“There was an immediate response to the April 10 press release that I failed to anticipate,” Page wrote.
“My intent was to share information about how the SAVE Act as written would impact the County’s administrative charge of managing voter registration to ensure that all eligible citizens were properly registered and able to vote in elections. My intent was not to take a position on legislation; the Registrar of Voters’ office provides input on how legislation may impact the administrative functions of my office. It is my responsibility to follow all federal and state laws.
Once I saw that providing my department’s administrative cost impact information in connection with a statement by the California Secretary of State was being perceived as the Registrar of Voters taking a political stance on the bill, I gave direction to delete the statement from our social media accounts and website.
I will continue to be collaborative with all political parties and all members of the community and hope to rebuild any trust I may have lost as a result of my statement,” Page said in the email.
I asked O’ Nell for his take on Page’s response.
“It sounds like Page regrets having weighed in on a partisan matter, which is good,” O’Neill texted me back.
“His job as an appointed county department head is to keep his head down and do his job in a non-partisan manner,” he added.
“There are a lot of people now skeptical of his commitment to being an unbiased registrar, which is too bad.”
When I texted back to O’Neill and asked him if still expects Page to issue a formal retraction, he responded, “I do.”
Hoffman said she views the OC Registrar of Voters’ office as the best in the state when it comes to releasing timely results and competent administration.
“The whole issue is overblown,” she said, criticizing Republicans for “trying to undermine our elections … trying to make people think there’s massive fraud.”
While the most senior Republican on Orange County’s Board of Supervisors isn’t happy about Page’s press release, he is backing him up.
“I think this sorta back and forth between Will and Florice suggests strongly why Bob’s original statement was an unforced error,” said County Supervisor Don Wagner.
“I told Bob I regretted he said it,” Wagner said. “I knew it would make people not trust him.”
“It’s a really terrible place for the registrar to be in. I’m sorry he did it,” Wagner added.
Yet for Wagner, the issue ends there.
Page is an appointed county official, but Wagner said he doesn’t expect supervisors will take it any further.
“I do not worry about the coming elections,” Wagner said, adding, “they very well may be very close.”
“I still believe Bob Page will follow the law as close as humanly possible to get a result that is as trustworthy as humanly possible,” Wagner said.
From here on, it’s up to Page to build back trust.
“Bob wins back support through actions,” Wagner said. “In doing his job.”
