Challenge to Huntington Beach voter ID law likely to be revived

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A lawsuit aimed at blocking a Huntington Beach charter amendment set to go into effect in 2026 requiring people to show identification before voting is likely to be revived and to receive a full hearing within a couple months.

Superior Court of Orange County Judge Nico Dourbetas initially threw out the lawsuit, filed by the state of California, in November 2024 after finding that the matter wasn’t ripe for adjudication because the measure “is permissive and discretionary in character, and thus currently presents no conflict with state elections law.”

But last Tuesday, the state court of appeals determined the issue was “a ripe, present controversy.”

On Tuesday, Dourbetas wasted little time in letting for attorneys for the state, Huntington Beach and Mark Bixby — a Huntington Beach resident that separately sued to overturn the law — know that he accepted the appellate court’s interpretation of the law.

“You read the opinion of the court of appeal. They found in the opinion that it was ripe,” he said. “I guess my ultimate question is, do y’all just want to get down to the meat and potatoes of this thing? We can volleyball it back and forth with the [district court of appeals], or we can get down to the meat and potatoes.”

All lawyers said they were open to the meat and potatoes — that is, to have a full hearing on the matter.

Dourbetas also addressed the Bixby suit, which was filed ahead of the state suit and dismissed earlier for similar reasons. It is also now likely to be revived. Bixby had also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the voter ID law, but the judge indicated that that was unnecessary.

“If we’re gonna have a hearing on this soon, what’s the point of a preliminary injunction?” he said.

The judge said he would likely schedule that hearing for April, but didn’t set a date yet.

Dourbetas took up the case again after the suggestion by the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth Appellate District, which issued a “Palma notice” made on an expedited basis. The notice didn’t actually order the lower court to do anything but it was, in effect, an advisory or tentative ruling, letting the county court know which they were leaning.

In their ruling, the three-judge appellate panel called the initial dismissal of the case “problematic” and the city’s argument that it the issue wasn’t ripe “suspect.”

The panel gave Dourbetas the option of vacating his order and letting the lawsuits proceed to a hearing, or doing nothing, which would lead to full oral arguments at the court of appeals.

Located in Orange County, not far from Disneyland, Huntington Beach — or “surf city,” as it’s fond of calling itself — is an increasingly conservative enclave in the fairly liberal Southern California coast.

All seven members of its city council are Republicans — and recently voted to put up a new plaque in its central library reading, “**M agical **A lluring **G alvanizing A dventurous.”

For years, they’ve clashed with the State of California on numerous issues, including housing, immigration and gender identity.

Last March, 53% of its voters approved Charter Amendment A, which gave the city the power to require people to show photo identification before casting ballots in future elections, starting in 2026. The state has always maintained that the city has the authority to regulate elections, making the charter amendment unconstitutional.

Last year, the California legislature passed a new law banning cities from passing voter ID laws.

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