P. ex rel. Bonta v. City of Huntington Beach

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Huntington Beach (the City) is a charter city in Orange County. In 2023, the City Council placed on the ballot a measure to amend section 702 and add section 705 to the City Charter. (Voter Information Guide, Primary Elec. (Mar. 5, 2024) text of Measure A.) (Measure A.) The amendment to section 702 called for the City Charter’s election rules to supersede the state Elections Code. The newly added section 705 stated (as relevant here): “(a) Beginning in 2026, for all municipal elections:” “(2) The City may verify the eligibility of Electors by voter identification.” These two changes were packaged together as City of Huntington Beach Measure A on the ballot for the March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary ballot. Measure A passed by a total vote of 32,892 to 28,701.

3 In response, the Legislature enacted (and the Governor signed) Senate Bill No. 1174 (2023-2024 Reg. Sess.), which added section 10005 to the Elections Code. (Stats. 2024, ch. 990, § 2.) The newly enacted section, effective January 1, 2025, forbids any “local government” from “enact[ing] or enforc[ing] any charter provision, ordinance, or regulation requiring a person to present identification for the…