California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law additions to the election code on Wednesday, which his office says will protect state elections against any attempts of political interference by the Trump administration and its allies ahead of the November midterm elections.
The new law, Senate Bill 73, authored by state Democratic Sens. Sabrina Cervantes and Tom Umberg, prohibits any person—including federal agents—from accessing voter rolls or election technology without a court order. It also restricts law enforcement from disrupting election workers except in public safety emergencies and makes it a crime to knowingly remove voted ballots from the custody of election officials.
Newsom signed the election legislation five days ahead of California’s June 2 statewide primary, where a crowded and closely watched governor’s race is already underway.
The new law took immediate effect.
“We have to step up, and we have to draw the line. We have to clarify the rules of engagement,” Newsom told reporters before signing the legislation. “It’s a warning to the folks out there that think they can do the bidding of the Trump administration.”
The White House pushed back against allegations from Newsom’s office that it would be involved in disrupting “lawful election administration” and sending “armed law enforcement to intimidate voters or steal ballots.” Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said President Donald Trump remains committed to ensuring that all Americans have full confidence in election administration.
Newsom framed the signing as a direct response to what he called “legitimate anxiety” about the administration’s actions—some of which he said have already played out in California and across other Democratic-led states. Trump administration officials say they have no plans to send immigration law enforcement agents to polling locations—a concern raised by several Democratic secretaries of state.
Newsom said he was unconvinced by those assurances.
“I expect the worst with Trump because he’s done the worst,” he said at a news conference Wednesday. He added that “there’s no rules anymore with the Trump administration,” and that California had to “be prepared for everything.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair last year that any suggestion Trump would deploy the military to suppress voting was “categorically false.”
Newsom has called the new law only the first piece of a broader “mosaic” of legislation that his administration plans to advance ahead of the November general election.
The signing of the law comes one week before California’s June 2 primary, where high-profile candidates across the state are vying for gubernatorial nominations in a primary season with national implications.
Under California’s open primary system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes—regardless of party—advance to the November ballot.
The new law came after a months-long confrontation between state officials and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican running for governor, who in early 2026 seized more than 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election on congressional redistricting.
Bianco claimed he was investigating allegations of a vote-count discrepancy, but county election officials and California Attorney General Rob Bonta disputed those claims. The California Supreme Court ultimately ordered Bianco to halt the investigation.
SB 73 directly addresses that by making such ballot seizures a criminal offense going forward.
While Bianco says he is a supporter of the president, he has never been endorsed by Trump. Trump in April endorsed Steve Hilton in the governor’s race.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
