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The debate over the future of voter ID in Huntington Beach is heading back to court after California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Tuesday he’d officially filed a notice to appeal an earlier ruling bouncing the case out of court.
The legal battle is centered on Measure A, a ballot measure approved by Huntington Beach voters in March 2024 that allows the city to require voter ID be shown for those voting in person within city limits, but not those who vote by mail.
Bonta sued the city over that law in April 2024, but an Orange County Superior Court Judge shot down the state’s case last November, arguing they brought the case too early and it wasn’t yet time for a judge to rule until the city came up with rules around the process.
[Read: OC Superior Court Judge Lets Huntington Beach Voter ID Requirements Stand]
City leaders have not yet introduced a proposal for how voter ID could be implemented.
“The Orange County Superior Court got it wrong – plain and simple,” Bonta said in a joint statement with California Secretary of State Shirley Weber on Tuesday morning. “Californians can rest assured that we will be working tirelessly to ensure they are not disenfranchised at the polls.”
Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates said the state may struggle to appeal the case in a Tuesday morning interview because the judge gave them the opportunity to amend their lawsuit when it was shot down and the state chose not to.
“The state may find it difficult to get the court of appeal to weigh in when the state did not exhaust its remedies at the lower court,” Gates said.
The OC Superior Court ruling is one of the few times the city has gotten a ruling in their favor across a series of legal battles with the state over the last two years on issues like mandated housing zoning, immigration and voter ID.
The heart of the city’s legal argument is that as a charter city, they have the power to ignore certain state laws that aren’t enshrined in the state’s constitution, while state leaders say it’s not within the city’s power to make their own rules for issues that impact the state as a whole.
[Read: Will Huntington Beach’s Legal Argument of Limited Independence Hold up in Court?]
Governor Gavin Newsom also signed into law a ban on voter ID for California cities in September that was proposed by then-state Senator Dave Min, who represented the city of Huntington Beach.
“A local government shall not enact or enforce any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place, vote center, or other location where ballots are cast or submitted, unless required by state or federal law,” reads the new law. “For the purpose of this section, ‘local government’ means any charter or general law city, charter or general law county, or any city and county.”
In a statement Tuesday morning, state elections chief Weber emphasized her plans to fight efforts to set up any voter ID requirements to vote.
“As California’s chief elections officer, I am responsible for the administration and enforcement of the state’s election laws,” said Secretary of State Shirley Weber. “Our state will continue to challenge any actions which violate state laws or hinder participation in our democracy.”
Gates pledged that the city would continue to defend the voter ID amendment regardless of what actions the state takes.
“No matter what course the state takes, we are going to fight to keep our voter ID,” Gates said. “Period.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.
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