Voters in Huntington Beach appear on track to approve two ballot measures that would allow the city to ask for voter ID and restrict which flags can be flown from government flagpoles.
Protect Huntington Beach, the main group opposed to the ballot measures, conceded defeat in social media posts on Wednesday evening.
Measure C is still a NO. pic.twitter.com/5ohafxJV0S
— Protect HB (@protect_hb) March 7, 2024
According to the Orange County Registrar of Voters' latest tally, "yes" votes on the voter ID measure, Measure A, were ahead by 53%.
On Measure B, the flag restrictions, "yes" votes were ahead by 57%.
Measure A
Measure B
These election results are being closely watched both inside and outside the city.
The measures are one of the first big tests of residents' feelings about the city's sharp turn to the right under the leadership of an ultra-conservative city council majority, elected in 2022.
Huntington Beach Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark said the results were validating. "It does, in a sense, give peace of mind that this is what the voters asked for, it's not just us on the dais," Van Der Mark said.
When LAist spoke to her the Thursday morning after the election, Van Der Mark said she was at city hall waiting to speak with city attorney Michael Gates about the next steps toward implementing Measure A, which wouldn't take effect until the 2026 election. She said she expected a legal challenge from the state.
"I do anticipate Sacramento is going to come after us, they always do," she said.
Still, she said she's committed to implementing the measure.
Connie Boardman, a former Huntington Beach mayor who is part of the Protect Huntington Beach group, told LAist she was disappointed in the results but that they were not unexpected. "We knew it was an uphill battle," Boardman said, noting that voters in primary elections tend to skew Republican.
Despite voters' approval of the voter ID measure, it's almost sure to face major hurdles to implementation. State officials have already warned the city that asking for voter ID and monitoring ballot boxes — also part of Measure A — would violate state law.
In California, as long as voters show ID when they register to vote, they don't have to do it again at the polls.
State Sen. Dave Min has also introduced legislation to clarify that cities cannot implement their own voter ID measures separate from the state.
Measure A also faces a legal challenge from Mark Bixby, a former Huntington Beach planning commissioner. Bixby told LAist he plans to continue fighting implementation of the voter ID measure. "I still remain firmly opposed to voter ID," Bixby said, "and so I'm expecting the fight will continue."
The city is, in essence, already implementing Measure B, which restricts flying flags from city flagpoles to only government flags, the POW-MIA flag, and the Olympic flag during the summer games. Last year, the city council rescinded an earlier council's decision to fly the rainbow Pride flag each spring and replaced it with restrictions similar to Measure B.
Measure B puts the restrictions in the city's charter, and allows other flags to be flown only by a unanimous vote from the city council.
Measure C, which would implement a two-year budget and change the way city council vacancies are filled, still appears to be headed for a loss.
Measure C
Measure C is an in-the-weeds initiative that would guide the inner workings of the city government. For example, Measure C would allow the mayor or a majority of city council members to cancel a city council meeting. It also specifies that at least one city council meeting must be held each month. Currently, the city's charter requires the council to hold meetings twice a month.
The measure would change the rules for filling city council vacancies, and require the city to adopt a two-year, or biennial, budget. Supporters say adopting a two-year budget cycle would give city departments greater stability and allow for longer-term planning.
A note on the results
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Keep in mind that in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after Election Day. In Orange County, the first batch of results released includes vote-by-mail ballots received before March 5, followed by early votes cast in-person at vote centers, then votes cast in-person on Election Day.
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Votes left to process
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As of the evening of Monday, March 18, the Orange County Registrar-Recorder reported the following estimates of remaining ballots to count:
- 16,631
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Breakdown of those votes:
- 56 are vote-by-mail
- 391 are drop box
- 7,089 are "final drop box" pickups
- 5,836 are mail-in ballots returned to vote center
- 2,352 are "eligible" ballots received after election day
- 586 are "duplicated" ballots
- 322 are provisional ballots
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Note: In California, ballots postmarked on or before March 5 are counted toward the results as long as they arrive within seven days of the election, or by March 12. Results must be certified by county election officials by April 4.
How we're covering this election
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Early voters and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known.
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Our priority will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted. To that end, we will report when candidates concede and otherwise rely on NPR and The Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more on NPR and The AP's process for counting votes and calling races here, here and here.
