OAKLAND — The city of Oakland has lost a lawsuit over Measure AA after a judge ruled that the city’s claim that the nearly $200 tax ballot measure had passed, even though it had not gathered a two-thirds majority of votes, was a “fraud on voters.”

“Allowing Measure AA to be enacted with less than two-thirds of the votes would constitute a ‘fraud on the voters,’ ” the judge wrote in the ruling issued Tuesday.

Measure AA was a parcel tax measure designed to boost funding for Oakland Promise, intended to provide education services and career readiness over the next 30 years.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronnie MacLaren agreed with the Jobs and Housing Coalition and other plaintiffs that sued the city, that Measure AA is “unenforceable.”

“Finally, the court determined that the city is barred from enforcing Measure AA because the ballot measures prepared by the city unambiguously advised voters that Measure AA would require two-thirds of the votes to pass,” the judge wrote in the ruling.

The council voted in December that the $198-per house, $135-per apartment annual parcel tax had enough votes to pass.

The coalition and others sued the city over the council’s decision in December to declare that the measure had sufficient votes to pass, although only 62 percent of voters approved it in the November 2018 election. Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker’s official summary and impartial analysis of the tax measure had said it would need 66.67 percent of the vote.

“You can’t change the rules of the games after it’s been played,” said Gregory McConnell, president and CEO of the Jobs and Housing Coalition, on Tuesday.

McConnell called the judge’s ruling a “win” for the residents and taxpayers of Oakland.

“We are hopeful that the council and other decision-makers in the government, just understand it’s the voters they answer to,” he said.

Mayor Libby Schaaf, in a statement to this newspaper Tuesday, said that she won’t stop fighting to send more low-income kids from Oakland to preschool and college.

“While I’m disappointed with the trial court’s ruling, I will continue to support all legal efforts to make preschool and higher education a right for every child from Oakland,” the mayor said.

The confusion followed a 2017 state Supreme Court ruling in the case of California Cannabis Coalition vs. the city of Upland, which distinguished between measures placed on the ballot by government agencies and initiatives placed on the ballot through signature-gathering drives.

Some have interpreted the ruling to mean that local tax initiatives such as Measure AA — which was placed on the ballot through a petition — require only a simple majority to pass and are not bound by the state’s two-thirds voter approval requirement on tax measures submitted by local governments.

Staff writer Ali Tadayon contributed to this story.