California Voters Victorious in Measure B Dispute
Voters in Shasta County, California, are celebrating a big win in the fight for election integrity.
“The California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District today denied the State of California’s petition to invalidate Shasta County’s voter-approved election integrity measure, Measure B,” reads a June 25 press release from the Lex Rex Institute (LRI), which is representing proponents in the ongoing case.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta had asked the Court of Appeal to quickly step in and strike down the measure without a full trial. The court said no, at least not right now. Instead, they told the state to first try getting fast action in the regular local trial court. The appeal court’s rejection was “without prejudice,” meaning the state can come back to them later if the trial court doesn’t handle the request in a timely manner.
Shasta County voters approved Measure B on June 2 with approximately 56 percent support. The measure, a charter amendment, seeks to enhance “election transparency and security” by requiring government-issued photo ID to vote; mandating in-person, single-day elections with limited absentee ballots; requiring hand-counting of ballots at the precinct level with observer visibility; and maintaining a separate, offline county voter registration system disconnected from the state database.
Opposition
Prior to the June 2 victory, Shasta County had sued to keep the measure off the ballot. When that failed, a private party also lost its bid to block the amendment. “This is the third time Measure B’s opponents have dragged us into court to stop Measure B — and the third time they have failed,” said lead counsel Alexander H. Haberbush.
The state alleges conflicts with California law on voter registration, mail-in voting, and centralized systems. The ACLU Northern California and League of Women Voters argue that Measure B undermines voter access by restricting mail-in options. Attorney General Bonta stated it is “legally indefensible” and threatens orderly elections.
Back to the Local Court
Regardless, last week’s ruling did not determine merit in the case, but simply directed the litigants back to the appropriate court.
“Rather than file in the Shasta County Superior Court — the court closest to the dispute and to the community it affects — Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber ran straight to an appellate court in Sacramento, demanding that the voters’ measure be struck down on an expedited schedule of the State’s own choosing, without a trial and without full briefing,” explained Haberbush. “The Court of Appeal refused and pointed the State to the very forum it had tried to skip — and it did so even though the County, which would ordinarily defend such a suit, had filed a statement of non-opposition to the writ.”
Supporters celebrate the ruling as defending voter will and local control. On X, @MichaelGatesESQ called it a win against “INCOMPETENT Rob Bonta,” and @ShastaNews4U described it as “a procedural setback for the State — a win for voters.”
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