Remote Surveillance Trailer in Huntington Beach, CA

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber hailed a major legal victory for voting rights after the California Supreme Court declined to review a challenge brought by the City of Huntington Beach against the state, effectively ending the city’s attempt to impose voter identification requirements in municipal elections.

The high court’s action leaves intact a Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling that struck down Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, known as Measure A, finding it unlawful and preempted by state law. By rejecting the city’s petition for review, the Supreme Court has fully resolved the case in favor of the state, concluding litigation initiated by Bonta and Weber on April 15, 2024.

Measure A amended the Huntington Beach city charter to purportedly authorize voter identification requirements at polling places for municipal elections beginning in 2026. State officials argued the measure conflicted with California election law and was adopted without evidence of voter fraud in the city. Courts at every level agreed, rejecting the city’s claims that such requirements were necessary to protect election integrity.

“Today’s victory makes one thing crystal clear: No city in our state, charter and non-charter alike, is above the law,” Bonta said. “All along, Secretary of State Weber and I have maintained that Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy is illegal, and now, the state’s highest court has weighed in and agreed with us. Measure A won’t be taking effect — ever.”

Bonta also criticized city leaders for promoting unfounded concerns about election security. “Huntington Beach’s leaders have been parroting the Trump Administration’s talking points by questioning the integrity of our elections,” he said. “In court, the City’s allegations were resoundingly rejected. I remain fully committed to protecting the right to vote from baseless attacks.”

Weber emphasized the broader implications of the ruling for voters statewide.

“Today the California Supreme Court declined to review the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s decision prohibiting the City of Huntington Beach from implementing illegal voter identification requirements,”

Weber said. “As California Secretary of State, I have a responsibility to ensure that every eligible Californian can exercise their constitutional right to vote, and I take that duty seriously.”

Weber added that state law clearly supersedes local efforts to impose additional voting barriers.

“Attorney General Bonta and I have held steadfast that state law preempts the City’s attempts to impose illegal voting requirements on eligible voters and that Huntington Beach’s Measure A is unlawful,” she said. “This is another victory for California, for voters, and for democracy.”

After multiple losses at the state level, Huntington Beach will now look to the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Measure A, which would allow the city to require voters to show identification at local polls.

A unified City Council decided to keep fighting for the measure and ask the country’s highest court to review a California appeals court ruling that struck down the city’s voter ID measure. The decision came just a week after the California Supreme Court declined to take up the city’s appeal.

“Polls show that over 80% of the country supports the common-sense idea of requiring voter ID to vote in elections,” Mayor Casey McKeon said in a press release about the council’s Tuesday closed session vote. “Identification is required to participate in most adult endeavors in this country. Therefore, voter ID should be required for the fundamental, time-honored sacred basis of a free society: elections.”

McKeon cited in his statement a 2008 Supreme Court decision that Indiana’s voter ID statute did not violate the 14th Amendment, saying, “We are optimistic that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up this fundamental constitutional issue that voter ID does not violate the equal protection clause.”

In March 2024, Surf City voters passed Measure A by 53%. The charter amendment would allow the city to require voters to present identification when casting a ballot in local elections starting in 2026. City officials have yet to outline how that might work.

The following month, state Attorney General Rob Bonta and Huntington Beach resident Mark Bixby, who publishes the Surf City Sentinel Facebook page, filed separate lawsuits against the city to block the implementation of the measure. Bonta said at the time that the policy “undermines that process and threatens the constitutionally protected right to vote.”

In December 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill barring cities from enacting their own voter ID laws.

The 4th District Court of Appeals ruled in November that Huntington Beach’s proposed local voter ID requirement would violate state election law — a decision that overturned an earlier trial court ruling, which supported the city’s argument that being a charter city allows local leaders greater control over municipal elections. The California Supreme Court on Jan. 28 denied the city’s appeal.

US Supreme Court justices receive roughly 7,000 to 8,000 appeals per year and grant arguments in about 80 of those cases.

Huntington Beach will try to take its attempt to possibly institute voter identification requirements all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

The conservative City Council unanimously voted in closed session Tuesday night to appeal a pair of congruent voter ID lawsuits to the top court in the land, City Atty. Mike Vigliotta reported, after the California Supreme Court declined to hear the city’s appeal last week.

“Polls show that over 80% of the country supports the common-sense idea of requiring voter ID to vote in elections,” Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon said in a statement. “Identification is required to participate in most adult endeavors in this country. Therefore, voter ID should be required for the fundamental, time-honored sacred basis of a free society: Elections.”

In the March 2024 presidential primary election, Huntington Beach voters approved a charter amendment that allowed the city to implement voter ID. But later that year, the state passed Senate Bill 1174, prohibiting cities from requiring voters to show identification at the polls.

Meanwhile, state leaders and Huntington Beach citizen Mark Bixby sued the city in separate lawsuits, stating that voter ID was illegal and infringed on rights.

Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls, but California is not one of them.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Nico Dourbetas ruled in April 2025 that voter ID didn’t compromise the integrity of a municipal election, but a three-judge panel of the state Fourth District Court of Appeal overruled that decision in a November ruling, citing the recently updated code.

In McKeon’s statement, he cited Crawford v. Marion County Election Bd. (2008), which upheld an Indiana voter ID requirement, determining that it did not violate the United States Constitution.

“We are optimistic that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up this fundamental constitutional issue, that voter ID does not violate the Equal Protection Clause,” McKeon said.

Within the realm of Valentine’s Day gifting, you have the grocery store heart box (charming in all of its populist splendor), and then you have Bella Sophia Chocolates.

Tucked away in Huntington Beach’s Pacific City Mall, this isn’t just a candy shop — it’s an atelier where cocoa beans are treated with the same reverence a vintner gives a prized pinot noir. Founded in 2016 by the husband-and-wife duo of Steph and J.D. Shafer, Bella Sophia is a love letter to the craft of chocolate making, and to each other. Their venture is even named after their daughter, Sophia. Married for nearly 37 years, the Shafers have turned their shared passion for European-style chocolatiering and bean-to-bar chocolate making into one of Orange County’s most esteemed sweet spots.

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J.D. and Steph’s journey to becoming an award-winning chocolatiers didn’t start in a kitchen, but on the sidelines of the world’s biggest sporting event. For decades, Steph worked as a massage therapist for Olympic athletes. “They don’t eat junk,” she told me during a recent visit to her shop. “I wanted to create bars they could actually eat, dark chocolate with the fewest ingredients possible, no preservatives, just healthy fats and organic cane sugar.”

What started as a labor of love for her athletes — and a 150-year-old stone mortar and pestle inherited from her great grandmother — has turned into an award-winning bean-to-bar operation. The process is, to put it mildly, grueling. It takes roughly 400 to 500 beans to produce just one pound of edible chocolate. After fermentation and toasting, the beans are winnowed and placed in a melanger, a stone grinder that runs for up to 72 to turn the beans into a velvety, smooth paste.

The Shafer’s chocolate-making execution revealed such precision that the couple won first-place honors at the International Chocolate Salon and TasteTV, including being named Best Chocolatier and Confectioner in America in 2019. Not too shabby for not being formally trained; the duo learned everything online by researching and reaching out to chocolatiers to perfect their technique.

“You can’t just turn off the machine and say it’s done because you have a deadline,” said Steph, with a laugh. “It’s a 72-hour commitment to smoothness.”

The couple use fair-trade cacao beans sourced from Los Arroyos in the Dominican Republic, where they create their chocolate in a painstaking process at a local kitchen offsite from their storefront. In fact, nearly everything they make for Bella Sophia is homemade, including the chocolate’s varied fillings, from caramel to fruits, to the flour used in Steph’s chocolate ship cookies. “I milled the flour myself,” she said.

If the chocolate-making process is science, the finishing part is pure art. Steph is a lifelong painter who used to work on massive canvases (one of her pieces can be seen at the store), but now her masterpieces can be measured in millimeters. Using colored cocoa butter, she hand-paints intricate designs into the molds and onto her chocolates, everything from shiny ladybugs and highland cows to miniature “Birkin” bags and “red-bottom” Louboutin stilettos.

“Every day my art changes, and the flavor panels change,” she explained. Unlike commercial chocolates that sit in a warehouse for six months at a time, Bella Sophia’s chocolates are made daily. “What’s here today won’t be here tomorrow,” said J.D., who worked in finance for 23 years before turning his life over to chocolate, pointing to the rank-and-file battalion of chocolates in the case. “We don’t refrigerate. We just want it to be the best thing you’ve ever tasted.”

For Valentine’s Day, their biggest day of the year, the shop will lean into the spectacular. To wit: This year’s showstopper is an edible, quilt-stitch chocolate box, entirely made from chocolate and hand painted. Patrons can fill the shiny box with truffles and chocolates. Then eat it. It’s the kind of gift that has led to some memorable romantic stories, including one customer who has the Shafers hide an engagement ring inside of of their chocolate boxes.

Other menu highlights include chocolates in myriad shapes (from hearts and caviar tins to turtles and Hawaiian shirts) with fillings like Speculaas “cookie butter,” dulce de leche, sea salt caramel, mango-passionfruit and hazelnut, to name a few. Also of grave importance: the expansive chocolate case is divided into “milk chocolate” and “dark chocolate” sections.

While the current shop is a bustling hub of energy and sweet scents, the Shafers are preparing for a massive expansion. They are currently building out a new larger space at the other end of the Pacific City mall (taking over a former bikini store) to create a true “chocolate cafe.”

Slated to open in early spring, the new spot will feature a mini kitchen where customers can watch the magic happen. The menu will expand to include chocolate croissants and “fired-up s’mores” featuring their marshmallows and graham crackers, both made from scratch. “I want to be front and center with the customers,” said Steph. “Chocolate brings people together. You can’t not be happy with chocolate.”

Find it: 21060 Pacific City Circle, Huntington Beach, 714-906-9011, bellasophiachocolates.com

If you’re looking to round out your Valentine’s Day chocolate crawl, here are a handful of other Orange County chocolate purveyors with a visit:

Chocolate Bliss (Rancho Santa Margarita): This single-origin chocolate shop features treats that are are handcrafted on the premises. Find it: 22312 El Paseo, suite G, Rancho Santa Margarita

Läderach Chocolatier Suisse (Brea, Costa Mesa): With two locations at Brea Mall and South Coast Plaza, this is the place for “FrischSchoggi” (fresh chocolate) bark. It’s high-end Swiss luxury that’s both a feast for the eyes and the palate, if a bit of a ding to the pocketbook. Find it: 1065 Brea Mall, unit 1116, Brea; 3333 Bristol St., unit 2814, Costa Mesa

Le Rue Du Chocolat (Laguna Beach): An exceedingly charming seaside spot known for his hand-dipped fruits and whimsical shapes. A great pit stop after a romantic sunset walk on the beach. Find it: 448 S Coast Highway, Laguna Beach

See’s Candies (multiple locations): The Los Angeles-born chocolate pit stop is a longstanding, beloved classic for a reason. More than 200 locations in Southern California alone, with many more across the globe.

Valenza Chocolatier (Costa Mesa): Operating out of the Hood Kitchen Space, master chocolatier Amy Jo Pedone creates award-winning, Italian-inspired bonbons and more that are almost too beautiful to eat. Find it: 350 Clinton St., suite A, Costa Mesa

Venchi (Costa Mesa): Another South Coast Plaza spot, this new Italian chocolatier is famous for its Nougatine and Chocoviar. Don’t leave without trying the rich, velvety gelato. Also of note: the chocolate waterfall cascading from behind the counter. Find it: 3333 Bristol St., unit 1018, Costa Mesa

By Bo Tefu and Antonio Ray Harvey

CA Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber hailed a major legal victory for voting rights after the California Supreme Court declined to review a challenge brought by the City of Huntington Beach against the state, effectively ending the city’s attempt to impose voter identification requirements in municipal elections.

The high court’s action leaves intact a Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling that struck down Huntington Beach’s voter ID law, known as Measure A, finding it unlawful and preempted by state law. By rejecting the city’s petition for review, the Supreme Court has fully resolved the case in favor of the state, concluding litigation initiated by Bonta and Weber on April 15, 2024.

Measure A amended the Huntington Beach city charter to purportedly authorize voter identification requirements at polling places for municipal elections beginning in 2026. State officials argued the measure conflicted with California election law and was adopted without evidence of voter fraud in the city. Courts at every level agreed, rejecting the city’s claims that such requirements were necessary to protect election integrity.

“Today’s victory makes one thing crystal clear: No city in our state, charter and non-charter alike, is above the law,” Bonta said. “All along, Secretary of State Weber and I have maintained that Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy is illegal, and now, the state’s highest court has weighed in and agreed with us. Measure A won’t be taking effect — ever.”

Bonta also criticized city leaders for promoting unfounded concerns about election security. “Huntington Beach’s leaders have been parroting the Trump Administration’s talking points by questioning the integrity of our elections,” he said. “In court, the City’s allegations were resoundingly rejected. I remain fully committed to protecting the right to vote from baseless attacks.”

Weber emphasized the broader implications of the ruling for voters statewide.

“Today the California Supreme Court declined to review the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s decision prohibiting the City of Huntington Beach from implementing illegal voter identification requirements,”

Weber said. “As California Secretary of State, I have a responsibility to ensure that every eligible Californian can exercise their constitutional right to vote, and I take that duty seriously.”

Weber added that state law clearly supersedes local efforts to impose additional voting barriers.

“Attorney General Bonta and I have held steadfast that state law preempts the City’s attempts to impose illegal voting requirements on eligible voters and that Huntington Beach’s Measure A is unlawful,” she said. “This is another victory for California, for voters, and for democracy.”

The decision reinforces California’s uniform election standards and affirms the state’s authority to protect access to the ballot box across all jurisdictions.