Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas delivered a decisive victory for election integrity by rejecting California’s lawsuit against Huntington Beach and upholding the city’s voter ID law.
The voter ID initiative, known as Ballot Measure 1, was approved by Huntington Beach voters in March with a solid 53.4% majority. The measure allows city officials to require voter identification, expand in-person voting locations, and enhance monitoring of ballot drop boxes—commonsense measures aimed at restoring trust in the electoral process.
Governor Gavin Newsom, in what critics call a retaliatory move, signed a state law to preempt local voter ID measures. Following his lead, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber filed a lawsuit against Huntington Beach, which has now been struck down in court.
This ruling enables the majority-Republican city to implement voter ID requirements for local elections, dealing a blow to what many see as overreach by California’s Democrat-led state government.
“It’s a massive black eye to the state of California,” City Attorney Michael Gates said of the ruling, according to the Associated Press. “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.”
The Orange County Register reported:
Huntington Beach officials proclaimed victory Friday when an Orange County judge ruled that the city’s new voter ID law was legal, a setback for the California attorney general’s office, which warned that voter ID could soon throw the city’s 2026 elections “into chaos.”
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The ruling issued Friday isn’t likely to end the dispute. The state still can amend its lawsuit, and during oral arguments on Thursday, the lawyers and Judge Nico Dourbetas acknowledged that no matter how the case plays out in trial court, it is almost certain to head to appeals.
Still, Dourbetas ruled in favor of the city’s legal objections to the state’s lawsuit.
“The City’s Charter is permissive … and thus currently presents no conflict with state elections law,” Dourbetas wrote in his decision.
Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark celebrated the ruling as a successful stand against “attacks by Governor (Gavin) Newsom and the State.” However, she acknowledged that the legal battle is far from over.
“We will not back down and will continue to fight for the City,” Van Der Mark stated in a prepared release.
