California law enforcement agencies are now barred from interfering with state elections under a new law signed Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a measure that takes effect immediately ahead of the June 2 primary.
The law makes it a crime to remove voted ballots from the custody of local election officials, a provision prompted in part by an incident earlier this year in Riverside County. Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is running for governor, seized more than 600,000 ballots from the county registrar of voters, saying his office was looking for evidence of fraudulent voting. No evidence has emerged showing that ballots were improperly cast.
Newsom said the state needed to make clear that election materials cannot be taken or handled outside established legal procedures.
“We have to step up, and we have to draw the line,” Newsom told reporters before signing the bill. He said the law is intended to clarify election rules and serve as a warning to those who might try to interfere with California’s voting process.
The measure, Senate Bill 73, was initially introduced by state lawmakers amid concerns about possible federal interference in California elections. Those concerns were heightened by tensions between the state and the Trump administration, as well as the national political stakes surrounding control of Congress.
But the Riverside County ballot seizure shifted the debate from a theoretical concern to an immediate one, prompting lawmakers to move quickly so the restrictions would be in place before voters cast ballots in the primary.
Under the new law, county registrars are prohibited from turning over ballots or voting equipment to law enforcement officers, including county sheriffs and deputies. If the law had been in effect at the time of the Riverside County incident, Registrar Art Tinoco would have been barred from allowing the sheriff’s department to take custody of the ballots, even with the search warrant deputies presented.
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Democratic coauthor of the bill and former Santa Cruz County registrar of voters, said voters must be able to trust that ballots remain secure.
“Voters should never wonder whether ballots were improperly handled,” Pellerin said. “And law enforcement powers should never be misused in ways that jeopardize the integrity of our democratic process.”
The law also confirms that the state attorney general, secretary of state or local election officials may sue any person, company or entity that takes a package containing ballots from an election official’s custody.
Voting rights advocates welcomed the swift action, calling the Riverside County seizure extraordinary.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonprofit California Voter Foundation, said she was not aware of any similar ballot seizure occurring elsewhere in the country. The Legislature’s response, she said, signals to voters that state officials recognized the seriousness of what happened.
The law includes additional provisions allowing the attorney general and secretary of state, in certain circumstances, to override county election officials. Supporters say those safeguards are intended to prevent local officials from undermining statewide election rules, such as by allowing armed personnel to gather near voting sites.
Those provisions come amid scrutiny of election administration in Shasta County, where Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis has drawn attention for his ties to 2020 election deniers and public skepticism of voting machines. Curtis, who had no prior experience running elections before being appointed registrar in 2024, also reduced the number of ballot drop boxes in the county. He has faced allegations of workplace violence and harassment, including claims that he threatened to drag employees from his office by their hair. Curtis has denied the accusations.
The new law also bars individuals from allowing law enforcement officers to access, disrupt, alter or take possession of voting technology without a court order.
Another section prevents election observers from challenging voter signatures. That issue gained attention last fall when the U.S. Justice Department, at the request of the California Republican Party, announced it would send election observers to California during the special election on Proposition 50. The move prompted concerns among Democrats and voting advocates that President Donald Trump was attempting to influence the outcome.
Alexander said the removal of ballots is only one potential threat to confidence in California elections. She also pointed to the state’s extended vote-counting timeline, which has become a frequent target of conspiracy theories and unsupported claims about election results.
Election advocates are urging Newsom to include roughly $55 million in the state budget for county election offices to purchase updated equipment and hire more staff, with the goal of speeding up ballot counting.
Newsom said Wednesday that budget discussions over election funding are progressing and that an agreement is expected soon.
Original source: CalMatters
