California Officials Appeal Dismissal of Suit Against City’s Voter ID Law

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced Thursday they will appeal the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Huntington Beach’s voter identification requirement, which is expected to take effect two years from now.
The lawsuit challenging Measure A, which would require identification from voters for municipal elections, was tossed out last month with a ruling that it wasn’t “ripe for adjudication” and doesn’t represent a conflict with state law.
The state was given a chance to amend the complaint, but Bonta and Weber decided to just go straight to an appeals court for relief.
“Secretary of State Weber and I continue to believe that Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy is unlawful,” Bonta said. “That’s why, today, we are announcing our intention to appeal the Orange County Superior Court’s decision holding that it is too early to bring our lawsuit. With preparations for the 2026 elections beginning late next year, we want and need a state appellate court to weigh in expeditiously. When that happens, we are confident that we will prevail.”
Weber added, “Measure A is a solution in search of a problem. In California, we champion people’s voices, we do not suppress them. We encourage participation in our democracy, we do not burden it.”
Voters approved Measure A 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent in March.
Chapman University assistant law professor Nahal Kazemi said the dispute over voter ID “is of a piece of what we’ve been seeing with Huntington Beach really trying to maintain its independence” from the state.
Kazemi said it is likely the issue wasn’t found to be “ripe” because both the new state law and Measure A were expected to go into effect in 2026.
“I understand why the state wants to appeal that because by the time the issue does become ripe you’re always running the risk of confusing voters,” Kazemi said.
“You see this more in federal courts, where they don’t want to disturb laws too close to an election,” Kazemi added. “And we shouldn’t be disturbing election laws too close to an election because it leads to confusion.”
The city could argue since it plans to run its own election that is limited to the City Council or just a city concern that it has a right to do that with its own voter ID requirement, Kazemi said. And city officials have said they would only do it for in-person voting, not vote by mail, she added.
But the logistics would get difficult if that city election was timed during a federal or state or county election that does not require voter ID, Kazemi said. The city also would have to run the election itself and couldn’t rely on the county Registrar of Voters or Secretary of State to do it, which could have its own challenges, she said.