An Orange County, California judge has blocked an effort by the state to prevent the City of Huntington Beach from enforcing its voter ID law. The city’s policy takes effect in 2026.
There is no showing that a voter identification requirement compromises the integrity of a municipal election,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas wrote in his decision. “Municipal election results do not lack integrity because only residents of a municipality who are eligible to vote participated in the election.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement that the state believes the court “got it wrong.”
“Earlier this year, the California Fourth District Court of Appeal wrote that Huntington Beach’s argument that ‘it had a constitutional right to regulate its own municipal elections free from state interference . . . is . . . problematic.’ We agree,” he said. “Now that we have a final order from the Orange County Superior Court, we look forward to moving on and appealing the decision. We remain confident that Measure A will ultimately be struck down.”
Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns called the ruling a “huge victory.”
“By prevailing against both Writs of Mandate, we have not only successfully defended our City’s Voter ID law, but also the constitutional authority of charter cities rights from attacks by the Attorney General and the State of California,” Burns said. “We will not back down in our efforts to secure local control over our local issues and will continue to fight for the City.”
Last year, Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill that prohibits local governments from enacting laws requiring voter ID. Because the city’s law is not yet in effect, some have argued that it is not contrary to state law.
