California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of bills aimed at strengthening election security. The measures include protections for mail-in voting and the introduction of criminal liability for ballot seizure.
The signing took place on 19 September 2026. The package included 13 laws which, according to the governor, are intended to counter attempts at federal interference.
One of the key laws makes it a crime to seize ballots, election records, or certified voting technologies before the official certification of results. It provides for criminal punishment for this.
Another bill criminalizes actions by individuals in positions of authority who direct subordinates to interfere with the delivery or return of mail-in ballots. Such actions also become a felony.
Newsom stressed that these steps respond to the Trump administration's efforts to restrict voting by mail. The US Supreme Court had earlier blocked some of the proposed federal rules.
Last year in Riverside County, a sheriff had already seized more than 650 thousand ballots, which sparked controversy. The new laws strengthen the protection of the ballot supply chain.
The package also extends the operating hours of mail-in ballot drop-off locations and introduces restrictions on the activity of law enforcement officers near polling places.
"We will not allow anyone to interfere with the free expression of the will of Californians," Newsom declared. But will this be able to fully prevent all possible forms of pressure on the electoral system?
Democrats in the state legislature see these measures as a necessary defense of democracy on the eve of the November congressional elections.
