Newsom Signs 13 Election-Protection Bills: Seizing Ballots Now a Felony as California Guards Against Federal Interference
LOS ANGELES — California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 19 signed a package of 13 election-protection bills at the Democracy Center of the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, creating new felony penalties for interfering with California's ballots and election systems ahead of the November midterm elections. The venue was a site federal agents visited last year in what the Governor's office described as an attempt to politically intimidate California officials and the broader Los Angeles community.
"Donald Trump won't 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. We have no bigger task than fighting to protect the right to vote from interference and meddling — the future of democracy is on the line. These bills today build upon the wall California has built to safeguard our electoral process," Newsom said in a statement.
Under AB 282 (Pellerin), seizing, causing, or assisting in the seizure of ballots, election records, or certified voting technology before election results are certified is a felony, as is directing a subordinate to do so. SB 259 (Wahab) makes it a felony for a person in authority to direct a person under their supervision to interfere with the delivery or return of a vote-by-mail ballot, and a misdemeanor for a person who has charge of a mail ballot to interfere with its delivery to a voter. AB 1664 (Jackson) requires a local agency, political subdivision, or elections official to notify the Secretary of State and the California Attorney General immediately, and no later than one calendar day, after becoming aware of any warrant, subpoena, or active law-enforcement investigation involving election records or certified voting technology. SB 1418 makes it a crime to take election materials or voting technology from the custody of election officials.
The remaining bills revise and expand the California Voting Rights Act against voter suppression and vote dilution (SB 1164); increase language-access services and translated election materials (SB 1360); extend vote-by-mail drop-off hours (SB 884); extend the prohibition on distributing materially deceptive election media, including deepfakes, from 2027 to 2031 and adjust related rules (AB 686, AB 502); allow penalties against people paid by campaign committees to post online political content without the required disclaimer (AB 1130); establish the Engaged California Program within the Office of Data and Innovation (AB 2103); direct the Secretary of State to assess the need to replace federal election-cybersecurity resources (AB 2281); and establish uniform procedures allowing voters to cast a mail ballot at a polling location without its identification envelope (SB 1420).
The state budget also includes $29 million for counties to hire staff and upgrade technology and equipment to speed counting, $5 million for county-level voter outreach, $5 million for statewide outreach through the Secretary of State, and $750,000 to combat mis- and disinformation. Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Attorney General Rob Bonta voiced support for the package. Before the signing, the U.S. Supreme Court had blocked the Trump administration's attempt to use the U.S. Postal Service to restrict access to vote-by-mail. Newsom also signed SB 1354 the same day, drawing a line around state-to-state military deployments. (GSM, based on the California Governor's office release)
Related:
Related: America's Electoral System (4): The Midterms: What Is on the Ballot on November 3, 2026
Related: Federal Judge Keeps North Carolina Mail Voting Restrictions in Place for November Election
Related: New Hampshire Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Ban All Consideration of Student IDs for Voting
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 加州州议会大厦（资料图）。经 Wikimedia Commons 发布，CC BY-SA 3.0。
