Huntington Beach voters are backing a series of new measures put forward by the city council in the early results from the March primary election, including potentially introducing voter ID and flag bans as part of the city code.
Tuesday’s election marks the first time Surf City voters have had the chance to weigh in on the new Republican City Council majority’s policies at the ballot box since they were elected in 2022.
Just over 54% of voters are in favor of moving forward with voter ID, with a 3,000 vote lead.
In early returns on election night, a majority of voters rejected the voter ID proposal – but that flipped as more ballot counts were released late into Tuesday night.
The new voter ID laws would not take effect until 2026 and would mandate voters show ID when going to vote at polling locations. Voters could still participate in mail-in voting without having to show ID.
The issue is expected to merit another lawsuit from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who sent a letter to city leaders last September warning them a voter ID law would “violate state law.”
[Read: California Attorney General Warns Huntington Beach Against Implementing Voter ID Law]
The city’s currently in the middle of a legal battle with Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom over the state’s housing mandates, with city officials arguing Huntington Beach is exempt because it’s a charter city.
[Read: How Much Could Surf City’s Housing Fight Cost Taxpayers?]
It also comes as Bonta has been forcing cities throughout OC to follow the housing mandates through lawsuits.
[Read CA Attorney General Enforces Housing Mandates on Orange County Cities]
The state Attorney General isn’t the only legal threat Surf City could face over voter ID.
Mark Bixby, a former city planning commissioner and critic of the council majority, also announced he’d be restarting his lawsuit against the voter ID issue that was thrown out ahead of the election when a judge said voters had to decide the issue first before any case could proceed.
“As my attorney already stated last night on X, our lawsuit against Voter ID will also continue,” Bixby wrote in a Facebook post on his Surf City Sentinel page. “I look forward to the state and other parties perhaps joining us.”
Beyond voter ID, voters also appear to be in favor of banning non-governmental flags on the city flagpoles, following a strong debate last year where city council members took down the LGBTQ+ pride flag.
As of Wednesday night, 58% of voters approved of the flag measure.
Meanwhile, Measure C is on track to fail, which would have brought in several new operational rules for the city like instituting a two year budget process and allowing the mayor to cancel meetings.
Fifty-two percent of voters on Tuesday night were against the law moving forward.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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