An Orange County judge on Monday, April 7, denied the state attorney general’s efforts to overturn Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, saying he disagreed with arguments the city’s effort would confuse and disenfranchise voters in future elections.
“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 ruling.
The ruling is a win for the city, but likely does not put an end to the case.
“While we are disappointed in the trial court’s ruling, all parties knew that the case would ultimately be decided at the appellate level,” said Lee Fink, an attorney for Mark Bixby, a resident who sued separately to block the law. The judge also ruled against his suit, which Fink said Monday they would appeal.
“We are confident that the appellate courts will reverse the trial court and stop the city’s unconstitutional and ideologically-driven voter ID requirements,” Fink added.
A three-judge panel in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, which took an early look at the arguments in the case in February, had described the city’s voter ID law as “problematic.”
Voters in March 2024 approved Measure A, which added language to Huntington Beach’s charter allowing the city to “verify the eligibility of electors by voter identification” beginning in 2026. City leaders have not detailed how they plan to implement the law.
The state attorney general’s office filed its lawsuit to stop Huntington Beach a year ago, saying the law was illegal and would confuse voters and disrupt election planning.
Judge Dourbetas heard oral arguments over the voter ID law on Thursday. In Monday’s ruling, Dourbetas wrote that the “challenged charter provision does not violate the right to vote and does not implicate the integrity of the electoral process.”
Attorneys for the state argued that the voter ID law is prohibited by state law that says local governments can’t require voters “to present identification for the purpose of voting or submitting a ballot at any polling place.”
The city argued that the state prohibition on voter ID requirements doesn’t explicitly apply to city elections that aren’t consolidated with statewide elections.
An attorney for the state last week said if Huntington Beach is allowed to proceed with its voter ID law, it could end up with Huntington Beach holding separate city elections that aren’t consolidated and voters receiving two different ballots and needing to go to separate polling places.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.