HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected California’s lawsuit against the city of Huntington Beach over a local measure allowing officials to require voter identification at the polls.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas ruled that existing state law does not block the local measure, which was approved by voters earlier this year. The ruling could clear the way for the majority-Republican city to implement one of California’s only voter ID requirements at the polls in local elections.
“It’s a massive black eye to the state of California,” City Attorney Michael Gates said of the ruling. “And what the state of California needs to know, if they haven’t found out already, is Huntington Beach is not going to be intimidated or deterred.”
State Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement to The Associated Press that the Friday decision “does not address the merits of the case.”
“We continue to believe that Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy clearly conflicts with state law, and will respond appropriately in court,” the office added.
Residents in the seaside city of Huntington Beach voted in March for a ballot measure that lets local officials require voter identification at the polls starting in 2026. It also allows the city to increase in-person voting sites and monitor ballot drop boxes in local elections.
A month later, Bonta filed a lawsuit, saying the measure approved in the city of nearly 200,000 people conflicts with state law and could make it harder for poor, non-white, young, elderly and disabled voters to cast ballots.
In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed into state law a measure that bans local governments in California from establishing and enforcing laws that require residents provide identification to vote in elections. The law was a direct response to Huntington Beach’s law, but it doesn’t take effect until next year.
It’s not clear how the new state law would impact the lawsuit and the local measure.
Gates, the elected city attorney in Huntington Beach, has said the city has the authority to take election-related measures under the state’s constitution and will defend the decision of local voters.
It remained unclear how the local measure would be implemented. In California, voters can cast ballots in person and also by returning ballots to drop boxes or by mail. Orange County Registrar Bob Page, who declined to comment on the lawsuit, previously said the city could conduct its own local elections or consolidate its elections with statewide general elections and receive services from the county registrar.
Huntington Beach, which has been dubbed “Surf City USA” and is known for its scenic shoreline dotted with surfers, has a history of sparring with state officials over the measures it can take under its city charter on topics ranging from immigration to housing.
The City Council, led by a politically conservative majority, put the voter ID measure on the ballot after making hotly contested decisions on topics spanning from flag flying to the removal of books from the children’s section of the public library over concerns about the materials.
While Democrats outnumber Republicans in Orange County, the GOP is dominant in Huntington Beach with more than 55,000 registered voters versus 41,000 Democrats, county data shows.