A California appeals court denied Attorney General Rob Bonta’s request for an expedited review of the California lawsuit against Shasta County’s Measure B.
Proponents of the measure, which makes election rules that run counter to state law, hailed the decision as a victory.
But the state Attorney General’s Office called the ruling procedural and vowed to continue its legal battle to stop the measure from ever taking effect.
The Third District Court of Appeal’s ruling was announced Thursday, June 25. The court of appeals did not weigh in on the merits of the state’s lawsuit.
“The court declines to exercise its original jurisdiction to review the challenged measure at this time. The denial is without prejudice to petitioners seeking expedited relief in the trial court in the first instance and to refiling in this court upon showing that petitioners attempted to obtain expedited relief in trial court, and the trial court failed to timely act,” the decision stated.
Long Beach attorney Alexander Haberbush’s Lex Rex Institute said in a news release that the state’s lawsuit is the third time “Measure B opponents have dragged us into court to stop Measure B — and the third time they have failed.”
Haberbush criticized Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber for going to the appellate court rather than filing in Shasta County Superior Court, which resides in the community Measure B affects.
“The Court of Appeal refused and pointed the State to the very forum it had tried to skip — and did so even though the County, which would ordinarily defend such a suit,” decided not to defend the lawsuit, Haberbush said.
Shasta County supervisors on June 16 voted 4-0 not to defend against the lawsuit or provide legal counsel to Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis.
Before the June 16 vote, Measure B proponents asked supervisors to hire Haberbush to defend against the lawsuit. Haberbush represented Laura Hobbs when she successfully appealed on March 3 a temporary restraining order that had kept Measure B off the ballot.
In a statement to the Record Searchlight, the AG’s press office said what happened Thursday was “purely procedural.”
“The Court of Appeal issued a purely procedural order declining to consider the merits of the case in the first instance. The Attorney General and the Secretary of State will quickly move to obtain relief in the appropriate court to protect voters’ rights and enforce state election law,” the statement said.
Bonta has called Measure B an “illegal election overhaul” that would end mail voting and require the hand counting of ballots. It would also require voter ID.
With all ballots processed, the measure easily passed with 56% yes votes. Results from the June 2 election are scheduled to be certified at the Tuesday, June 30, Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Curtis asked the Record Searchlight to send him a text message if the newspaper wanted comment on the court of appeal’s ruling. Curtis had not replied to the text message before deadline.
In response to an email seeking comment, Hobbs sent a Record Searchlight reporter a link to a website the newspaper could not open.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Legal fight to stop Shasta election rules sees backers score early win
Reporting by David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By David Benda, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
