Two ballots. Two mailings. Two election processes. Thirteen days apart.
Unless Superior Court Judge Julianne Bancroft changes her mind between now and a Sept. 30 hearing, that’s what Newport Beach voters face in the coming weeks.
As the Register’s Erika Ritchie reported, the dispute involved a lawsuit by the Newport Stewardship Association. Bancroft issued a writ on Sept. 2, which set up the city “to run its own special election for the first time in 44 years on Nov. 3 for a trio of resident-initiated ballot measures.” The cost to taxpayers: up to $1.5 million.
Bancroft’s action voided a 5-2 vote by the council, taken on Aug. 25, to place the three measures before voters in 2028.
But the two ballots will be mailed out at different times. The regular ballot from the Orange County Registrar of Voters is scheduled to arrive on or around Oct. 5. It will include the races for governor, other state and local offices and the 14 state initiatives. It also will include Newport Beach’s Measure H, which would amend the city’s General Plan Land Use Element to allow 2,900 new affordable housing units.
Then on Oct. 19, the special city ballot with three more measures arrives. Measure P limits councilmember terms to eight years, total. But the current limit also is eight years, although someone can run again after a four-year break – which no one has done.
Measure Q lets voters elect only their district’s councilmember. Currently, councilmembers must live in their districts, but all residents vote for every seat.
Measure R expands requirements for public meetings, records access, oversight and enforcement.
Obviously, none of the three measures is urgent enough to justify spending the additional $1.5 million now rather than waiting two years.
How did this happen? In 1980, the city amended its charter so general municipal elections would be consolidated with statewide general elections. That law should have been followed.
Instead, reported the Voice of OC, “The four initiatives’ nearly $1 million signature gathering effort was entirely funded by local developer Ken Picerne according to campaign disclosures, with former mayor Marshall ‘Duffy’ Duffield serving as treasurer for the effort.” Duffield said the purpose was “to help limit uncontrolled development throughout the city.”
Because Newport Beach does not maintain a full-time municipal elections operation, the city hired a consultant and outside vendors to create and administer this accelerated election. The consultant was selected only after three other firms declined, citing concerns about their ability to conduct an error-free election.
During special City Council meetings on Sept. 10 and 18, officials discussed unresolved logistical issues involving polling locations, ballot drop boxes, access to Orange County vote centers, assistance from the Registrar of Voters and required ballot-security features. Recognizing these challenges, I asked the council to halt the secondary election. Unfortunately, I was denied twice, both on 3-4 votes.
These are not minor details. Whatever one’s position on the underlying dispute, there is now a more immediate question: How is the average voter supposed to navigate an election system being assembled under extraordinary time pressure?
It looks different. It is for a different election. Voters must understand where and how that ballot should be returned.
What happens if a Newporter puts the city ballot into a county envelope, takes it to a county drop box or simply assumes the first ballot was the only one?
Elections have consequences. Those consequences should come from voters making informed choices—not from trying to decipher an unfamiliar election process.
Erik Weigand is a Newport Beach councilman