Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas delivered a decisive win for election integrity, 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 passed by Huntington Beach voters in March with a solid 53.4% majority.
The measure authorizes city officials to require voter identification, expand in-person voting locations, and enhance monitoring of ballot drop boxes—commonsense measures designed to restore trust in the electoral process.
Governor Gavin Newsom, in a thinly veiled act of retaliation, signed a state law aimed at preempting local voter ID measures. Attorney General Bonta and Secretary Weber quickly followed suit, filing a lawsuit that now stands defeated in court.
This ruling empowers the majority-Republican city to implement voter identification requirements in local elections, striking a blow against the relentless overreach of 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 AP.
“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.”
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 was surely headed for 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 ruling.
Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark celebrated the ruling as a successful defense against “attacks by Governor (Gavin) Newsom and the State.” But she, too, acknowledged the legal fight is far from over.
“We will not back down and will continue to fight for the City,” Van Der Mark said in a prepared statement.
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