SACRAMENTO\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed legislation to increase security for the state\u2019s voting systems and protect Californians\u2019 ability to cast ballots in an effort to guard against potential interference in the Nov. 3 election, including by the Trump administration. <\/p>\n
Newsom pointed to the Trump administration\u2019s recent effort to restrict mail-in voting through the U.S. Postal Service, which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a>, and the presence of federal monitors at California polls last year as evidence that Trump \u201cwill continue his efforts to interfere with the November election.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDonald Trump won\u2019t stop until he can exert dictatorial control over your free vote and disenfranchise millions of people this November. California will stop him at every opportunity,\u201d Newsom said in a statement. \u201cWe have no bigger task than fighting to protect the right to vote from interference and meddling \u2014 the future of democracy is on the line. These bills today build upon the wall California has built to safeguard our electoral process.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor signed the package of bills at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, where a year earlier federal agents gathered outside a political rally he was hosting.<\/a> Then-Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, who had been leading the immigration operations in California, was among those outside the event, joined by agents in helmets, camouflage, masks and holding guns. Newsom described their presence as political intimidation. <\/p>\n One bill Newsom signed Saturday cites efforts to \u201cweaponize law enforcement authority for political purposes,\u201d including Republican \u201cSheriff Chad Bianco\u2019s seizure of ballots in Riverside County<\/a>,\u201d and the election monitors sent by the U.S. Justice Department to polling sites in five counties during a 2025 special election on redistricting.<\/p>\n Such moves \u201chave given rise to unprecedented concerns about law enforcement interference\u201d in elections and \u201c[demonstrate] that these threats are not merely hypothetical,\u201d the bill by state Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) reads.<\/p>\n The law<\/a>, Senate Bill 884, which takes effect immediately, requires counties to open ballot drop-off locations 30 days before an election \u2014 two days earlier than usual \u2014 and allows counties to ban electioneering, or trying to influence voters\u2019 decisions, within up to 200 feet of polling sites. It also bans police from making arrests near voting locations except for crimes against people, property, or disrupting the voting process.<\/p>\n Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who oversees state elections, praised the bill signings and said they stood ready to defend Californians\u2019 right to vote.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one should doubt the degree of our resolve in protecting our democracy,\u201d Weber said. \u201cThis legislative package ensures that California voters will not be silenced or intimidated.\u201d <\/p>\n Bianco, a GOP candidate for governor who placed fourth in the primary, drew swift condemnation and legal challenges this spring after he ordered deputies to seize more than 650,000 ballots from the Riverside County elections office. Voting rights groups and Bonta challenged the move, which is being decided by the California Supreme Court. <\/p>\n Bianco carted off truckloads of ballots from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters in February after securing a warrant based on claims that the office allowed fraudulent votes in the special election to redraw California\u2019s congressional districts under Proposition 50 in 2025. <\/p>\n Earlier this year, Newsom signed a bill preventing local and federal law enforcement agencies from taking ballots without a warrant.<\/p>\n On Saturday the Democratic governor signed a bill making it a felony to seize or order the seizure of ballots, election records or voting machines. Future seizures could be punishable by up to four years in prison.<\/p>\n \u201cThe federal administration and those seeking to spread lies about our democracy continue to call for interference in elections in ways we have never seen before in this country,\u201d Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz), the bill\u2019s author and a former longtime county elections chief, said last month. \u201cAB 282<\/a> helps ensure that every lawfully cast vote can be counted, and that the will of the voters of every political party will be respected.\u201d<\/p>\n Republican lawmakers argued in previous hearings that the bill is unnecessary because it is already a crime to steal ballots.<\/p>\n Another bill, Senate Bill 259, makes it a crime to interfere with a mail ballot on the way to or from a voter or order the seizure of ballots that are in transit to a local elections office.<\/p>\n Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1664, which requires elections officials to notify the attorney general and secretary of state immediately upon learning of any warrants, subpoenas or law enforcement investigations involving election records or voting equipment.<\/p>\n Newsom also signed bills to boost protections under the California Voting Rights Act, including an explicit ban on voter suppression and expanded access to election materials in languages other than English.<\/p>\n The governor also signed legislation to require more transparency from social media influencers who are paid by political campaigns. The measure, Assembly Bill 1130<\/a>, came in the wake of a controversy in the June primary election when social media influencers took on a more visible role in the campaigns. <\/p>\n