Court Upholds Huntington Beach’s Voter ID Law, A Massive Win for Local Control

“We will not back down in our efforts to secure local control over our local issues and will continue to fight for the City,” said Huntington Beach Mayor Pat Burns. 

This week, Huntington Beach voter ID laws were upheld by Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas. This ruling serves as a massive victory, not only for the constituents of Surf City—who voted to approve the measure last year—but also for those that believe local control is under attack from Sacramento’s overreach.

“There is no showing that a voter identification requirement compromises the integrity of a municipal election,” Dourbetas stated in his ruling. “Municipal election results do not lack integrity because only residents of a municipality who are eligible to vote participated in the election,” he added. 

In other words, as Huntington Beach is a charter city, it is given the right to set its own rules for municipal elections. That didn’t stop State Attorney General Rob Bonta from bringing the lawsuit forward almost as soon as the results of Measure A were announced. Bonta’s argument made numerous appeals to safeguarding democracy. The City’s conservative coalition critiqued Bonta for attempting to go against the will of the people who participated in a democratic election. 

“Today, we are pleased to announce that the City of Huntington Beach prevailed against the State of California and Mark Bixby’s Writs of Mandate in the Superior Court concerning the City’s right to require voter identification in its local elections,” wrote Mayor Pat Burns. “The Superior Court denied both Writs seeking to invalidate Section 705 of the City Charter concerning our new Voter ID law. This is a huge victory not only for our City but charter cities throughout the State.”

“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. We will not back down in our efforts to secure local control over our local issues and will continue to fight for the City.” 

In that last sentence, Burns acknowledges Bonta’s intention to appeal the decision and drag out the legal battle against election reform.

“Yet again, we believe the Orange County Superior Court got it wrong,” Bonta said in a statement. “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.”

U.S. Department of Justice Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Gates, who was until recently the City Attorney for Huntington Beach, posted an enthusiastic message of support on Twitter/X. “Congratulations to the City of Huntington Beach on today's court victory upholding the City's Voter ID Law,” he wrote. “We won before in 2024, and the City just won again!!! This Court ruling means the City beat the State of California… again!!! Fights produce wins. Keep fighting!”

City Attorney Mike Vigliotta, who was recently appointed following Gates’ departure to join the D.O.J., wrote that he is "pleased that the Superior Court carefully analyzed the law and came to the correct conclusion regarding California Constitution, Art. XI, §5, reservation giving charter cities the authority to ‘make and enforce all ordinances and regulations in respect to municipal affairs… The US Supreme Court has already determined that voter ID does not violate the right to vote.”

The case is, for better or for worse, far from settled. But the fact remains that the state government has suffered a devastating first loss—the first chink in the Golden State’s once-impregnable armor. It’s a fight that the rest of the nation will be watching with bated breath.  

“While we anticipate this fight isn't over, we are pleased with the Court's fair and just evaluation of the weakness of the State and Bixby’s legal case,” wrote Vigliotta.