Huntington Beach requirements should not interfere with state law, the rules of judges.
“The voter identification requirements do not show that they undermine the integrity of local government elections,” Doubetus wrote in his decision Monday. “Only local government residents who are eligible to participate in the election are not lacking in integrity in local government election results.”
The judge also found that the city’s charter amendments did not violate voting rights and did not reduce the integrity of the election process.
Huntington Beach City lawyer Michael Gates celebrated the verdict.
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The verdict sent the matter back to the judge.
“Again, I believe Orange County Superior Court has made that wrong,” Bonta said in a statement. “Early this year, the California Fourth District Court of Appeal wrote that Huntington Beach’s claim that there was a constitutional right to regulate its own country’s elections without state interference is problematic. We agree,” Bonta said.
“We are confident that (the Voter ID Act) will eventually be repealed.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta will be attending a press conference held in Los Angeles on April 15, 2024. Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber are scheduled to appeal the ruling on April 7, 2025. John Fredrix/Epoch Times
Weber argued that city laws would eliminate voters.
“The court’s order is in direct conflict with California’s election law, which will disenfranchise California voters,” Weber said in a statement. “As California’s Chief Election Officer, I will continue to defend this state and its eligible voters by partnering with Attorney General Bonta to appeal this decision.”
The Local Voter ID Act is one of many laws that have emerged across the United States in recent years. Recently, Wisconsin approved a referendum on April 1, solidifying rules since 2011 and adding voter ID requirements to the state’s constitution.
