2026 Initiatives

1. Sept 2, 2026

   Court enters writ of mandate; City files second appeal

   Following its August 27 ruling, the Court entered a peremptory writ of mandate commanding the City to take all steps necessary to hold a general municipal election for the three initiatives on November 3, 2026, whether run directly by the City or through a consolidated election process. The writ set a September 30, 2026 deadline for the City to file an Initial Return detailing its compliance steps, and a Final Return due 15 days after a November 3, 2026 election on the initiatives. The Court found that any stay of the writ pending appeal would cause irreparable harm to Petitioners, so the City's appeal does not operate as a stay of the writ absent further court order. The City filed a second notice of appeal the same day, specifically from the September 2 order and entry of the writ.

   CONFIRMED[18][19]
2. Aug 28, 2026

   Registrar rejects City's compliance filing

   The City emailed the three initiatives to the Orange County Registrar of Voters the evening of August 27 and hand-delivered copies the following morning, complying with Judge Bancroft's order. That afternoon, County Counsel Leon Page rejected the filing on the Registrar's behalf, citing the August 7, 2026 deadline as the state law's 88-day pre-election filing requirement and stating that adding the measures now “would substantially interfere with the printing and distribution of election materials.” City spokesperson Georgia Rios said the City was “analyzing the steps necessary to comply with the judge's order and will likely seek further direction from the court next week.”

   REPORTED[12]
3. Aug 27, 2026

   Court orders initiatives onto the 2026 ballot; City files a new appeal

   Ruling on an NBSA ex parte application, Judge Julianne Bancroft found that the Council's selection of a 2028 date was an abuse of discretion, and ordered the City to immediately take the steps necessary to place all three initiatives on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The City filed a notice of appeal the same day, opening a new case, G067367. Separately, Orange County Counsel Leon Page sent a letter to the initiative proponents' attorneys stating the City had missed an August 7, 2026 deadline to request ballot consolidation with the November election, and that no such request had been received. Registrar Bob Page declined to comment.

   CONFIRMED[5] [11] (order and appeal filing); reported detail on the ruling and the County Counsel letter: [10]
4. Aug 25, 2026

   Council votes 5 to 2 for a 2028 ballot; appellate court denies emergency relief

   Following staff recommendation, the Council adopted Resolution No. 2026-73, selecting November 7, 2028 as the election date for the three remaining charter initiatives, covering government transparency, council term limits, and district-only voting. Michelle Barto and Robyn Grant dissented. The same day, the California Court of Appeal denied the City's request for emergency relief in Case No. G067335 (Trial Court Case No. 30-2026-01559183, the case covering the three charter initiatives). Case No. G067333, filed the same day, is a separate writ petition arising from a different trial court case (30-2026-01580961) concerning the Responsible Housing Initiative specifically — see the Housing & the Greenlight Initiative page.

   CONFIRMED[2] [3] [4] (Council vote); appellate denial: [13] [14]
5. Aug 19, 2026

   Court finds notice and signatures sufficient, and denies removal of the housing measure

   The Orange County Superior Court held that NBSA substantially complied with the Elections Code's publication requirements, that proper notice had been published for all four NBSA initiatives, and that sufficient signatures had been certified for all four. The Court denied the City's request to remove the Responsible Housing Initiative from the ballot. For the three remaining initiatives, the Council could call the election for November 3, 2026, March 7, 2028, or November 7, 2028, provided any choice of 2028 was justified in writing.

   CONFIRMED[2]; reported detail: [8]
6. Aug 18, 2026

   Council approves proposed ballot question language

   The City Council approved the official ballot questions for the three initiatives, but did not yet call an election.

   CONFIRMED[1]
7. Aug 5, 2026

   Reporting on the City's suit and the Registrar's role

   Voice of OC reported that the City's lawsuit specifically targeted the Responsible Housing Initiative, funded almost entirely (nearly $1 million) by developer Ken Picerne. Registrar Bob Page stated publicly that certifying signatures was his only role, and that determining a petition's sufficiency is the City Clerk's responsibility, not his.

   REPORTED[7]
8. Aug 3, 2026

   Court denies the City's motion for reconsideration

   The Court denied the City's motion for reconsideration of an earlier order.

   CONFIRMED[2]
9. Jul 17, 2026

   Court orders signature transmission to the Registrar of Voters

   The Court ordered the City to transmit the initiative signatures to the Orange County Registrar of Voters for verification and to work with NBSA on ballot question wording.

   CONFIRMED[2]
10. Apr 17, 2026

    NBSA submits Term Limits and District-Only Voting petitions

    The Newport Beach Stewardship Association submitted two additional Charter amendment initiative petitions.

    CONFIRMED[2]
11. Mar 26, 2026

    City sues the Newport Beach Stewardship Association

    The City filed suit against the Newport Beach Stewardship Association, the sponsor of the charter initiatives, seeking to block one or more of them from the ballot (Case No. 30-2026-01559183). The City argued that petition circulation and public notice requirements were not properly followed, and separately that the initiative in question exceeded what the electorate has power to adopt. A separate City suit naming Orange County Registrar of Voters Robert Page (Case No. 30-2026-01580961) concerns the Responsible Housing Initiative and is covered on the Housing & the Greenlight Initiative page.

    CONFIRMED[6]
12. Dec 23, 2025

    NBSA submits Public Meetings, Records, Oversight and Enforcement petition

    The Newport Beach Stewardship Association submitted the first of the three Charter amendment initiative petitions.

    CONFIRMED[2]

The official ballot questions, as approved by the City Council on August 18, 2026:

CONFIRMED [1]

As of the most recent reporting, it remains unresolved whether the three charter initiatives will appear on the November 3, 2026 ballot, or whether the City will instead be required to conduct a stand-alone election. On August 27, 2026 the Superior Court ordered the City to place all three on the November 3, 2026 ballot; the City appealed that order the same day, opening Case No. G067367. On August 28, 2026, County Counsel Leon Page rejected the City's compliance filing with the Registrar of Voters, citing an August 7, 2026 consolidation deadline. On September 2, 2026, the Court entered a peremptory writ of mandate commanding the City to take all steps necessary to hold a general municipal election on the initiatives on November 3, 2026, whether run directly by the City or through a consolidated election process, and found that the City's appeal does not stay the writ absent further court order. The City filed a second notice of appeal the same day. The City's Initial Return on its compliance steps is due September 30, 2026.

CONFIRMED [5] [11] [18] [19]

REPORTED [10] (County Counsel letter); [12] (Aug. 28 filing rejection)

The Newport Beach Stewardship Association (“NBSA”) submitted the Public Meetings, Records, Oversight, and Enforcement Initiative petition on December 23, 2025, and the Term Limits and District-Only Voting petitions on April 17, 2026. Under a July 17, 2026 court order, the City transmitted signatures for all three to the Orange County Registrar of Voters for verification. The Registrar completed that process and certified the results to the City ahead of the August 25, 2026 meeting.

CONFIRMED [2]

City staff recommended the Council select November 7, 2028 as the election date — reasoning that the Charter changes are significant and long-lasting, that a statewide general election draws broader turnout, and that November 2028 is already Newport Beach's regularly scheduled municipal election. The Council adopted the staff-recommended actions, including calling the election for November 7, 2028 and adopting Resolution No. 2026-73, by a single motion. The motion passed 5–2, with Michelle Barto and Robyn Grant dissenting.

CONFIRMED [2] [3] [4]

Ruling on an NBSA ex parte application, the Court found that the Council's selection of a 2028 date was an abuse of discretion, and ordered the City to immediately take the steps necessary to place all three initiatives on the November 3, 2026 ballot, including forwarding materials to the Orange County Registrar of Voters. The Court reserved a decision on NBSA's separate request for sanctions.

CONFIRMED [5]

This litigation involves two separate but related court cases, decided together on August 19, 2026 by the same judge. Case No. 30-2026-01580961 concerns the Responsible Housing Initiative and is covered on the Housing & the Greenlight Initiative page. Case No. 30-2026-01559183 concerns the three charter initiatives (Sunshine, Term Limits, District Voting) and is covered on this page. The City has filed separate appeals in each: G067333 for the housing case, G067367 for the charter-initiatives case. We are noting this explicitly because the two cases are easy to conflate.

Copies of the underlying court documents are posted here:

• Minute order, August 19, 2026 (Case No. 30-2026-01580961) [17]
• Minute order, August 27, 2026 (Case No. 30-2026-01559183) [5]
• Notice of appeal, August 27, 2026 (Case No. G067367) [11]
• Minute order on entry of writ, September 2, 2026 (Case No. 30-2026-01559183) [18]
• Notice of appeal, September 2, 2026 (Case No. 30-2026-01559183) [19]

CONFIRMED [17] [5] [11] [18] [19] [14]

Two notices of appeal are now pending: Case No. G067367 (from the August 27 order) and a second appeal filed September 2, 2026 specifically from the writ of mandate. Neither appeal has stayed the writ; the Court found on September 2 that a stay would cause irreparable harm to Petitioners. The City's Initial Return detailing its compliance steps is due September 30, 2026. It is not confirmed whether the City will hold the election directly, seek a late consolidation with the county, or take some other path, nor whether either appeal could still affect the outcome before or after November 3.

CONFIRMED [11] [18] [19]

UNCONFIRMED (final ballot outcome and election-administration method)

CONFIRMED [16]