Gov. Gavin Newsom put his signature on a package of election-security bills over the weekend, positioning California to push back against what Democratic leaders describe as looming threats from the Trump administration to disrupt vote counting and suppress turnout ahead of November.
The 13 measures, signed Saturday, take direct aim at scenarios that have alarmed state officials in recent months — from federal agents showing up at polling places to local law enforcement seizing ballots before an election is certified.
“Trump won’t stop until he can exert dictatorial control over your free vote and disenfranchise millions of people this November,” Newsom said in a statement announcing the signings. “California will stop him at every opportunity.”
The Trump administration has long maintained that its election policies are meant to root out fraud and keep noncitizens from casting ballots, even though voter fraud remains statistically rare. Opponents, however, say the practical effect of many of these federal actions is to make voting harder for people who are legally entitled to cast a ballot.
One of the new state laws makes it a felony for anyone — including law enforcement — to seize ballots, voting equipment or election records before results are certified. That legislation traces directly back to an incident in Riverside County this past March, when Sheriff Chad Bianco confiscated more than 600,000 ballots as part of what he called a “fact-finding mission.” Two local Democratic officials and the California attorney general challenged the seizure in court, and the case is now before the state Supreme Court.
Another new law criminalizes interference with the delivery or return of mail ballots, a response that comes on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting the Trump administration’s attempt to restrict mail voting through new U.S. Postal Service rules.
Newsom also signed legislation prohibiting police from making arrests within 200 feet of a polling place on Election Day, with exceptions for crimes against people or property or offenses tied to obstructing someone’s right to vote. The bill reflects growing concern among Democratic lawmakers that federal agents could be sent to polling sites to intimidate voters.
Not everyone welcomed the changes. Sheriff Bianco argued that one of the new laws could put officers at risk of felony charges even when they’re simply carrying out a judicial warrant. The First Amendment Coalition objected to a separate measure banning deceptive, digitally altered political ads, citing free speech concerns. The California State Sheriffs’ Association also opposed one of the bills, saying it hands too much authority to the state attorney general.
In other Sacramento news, Newsom issued an executive order directing state agencies to draft artificial intelligence safety guidelines by Nov. 16. Some of what’s being proposed — including requiring a “kill switch” that developers could use to shut down AI systems — mirrors provisions from a bill Newsom vetoed two years ago. The shift comes amid rising public anxiety about AI’s potential dangers. Candidates running for governor have also signaled they support tighter AI oversight, though few have offered specifics on what that would look like.
Elsewhere in California policy news, digital privacy advocates have renewed scrutiny of data brokers, the companies that quietly gather and sell enormous amounts of personal information — from income and address to speculative details like whether someone might need a mammogram. A joint investigation by CalMatters and Consumer Reports identified more than 100 companies purchasing Californians’ data, including major retailers and financial firms.
On the infrastructure front, open internet advocates are pressing Newsom to turn down a $1.4 billion federal broadband grant meant to expand internet access to more than 270,000 residents in underserved communities. The catch: the Trump administration is requiring California to stop enforcing its net neutrality protections in exchange for the funding, a trade-off state regulators are still weighing.
Meanwhile, a fire last week at the Moss Landing battery storage facility in Monterey County has reignited safety concerns about the type of large-scale battery installations California is counting on to meet its clean energy targets. The same facility experienced one of the largest battery storage fires on record in January 2025, and investigators still haven’t determined the cause — a delay that has frustrated local officials.
In another decision this week, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed individual state departments to craft their own telework policies. The veto keeps his current four-day in-office requirement in place, even as the state’s largest public employee union — which backed the bill — is polling members on a possible strike.
Original source: CalMatters
