California Law Now Stops Trump’s Tactics in Their Tracks
California looms large on the 2026 midterm map. Last November, voters passed Prop 50 to redraw the state’s congressional districts in answer to the Texas gerrymander, and as many as five Republican-held seats could flip in November. CalMatters put it plainly: the road to a House majority could run through California.
Trump knows it, and he’s spent two years treating Gavin Newsom as his favorite enemy. If you’re an authoritarian looking for a state where election sabotage could pay off (and where the governor’s name alone would make it tempting), the Golden State is a good one.
On Friday, Governor Newsom signed 13 new laws protecting California’s election infrastructure from these very attacks:
AB 282 protects ballots, election records, and voting machines from seizure until the results are certified. In January, the FBI walked out of the Fulton County, Georgia, elections office with ballots. Then California’s own Riverside County sheriff ordered more than 650,000 ballots seized. Anyone who tries that in California now is committing a crime.
SB 259 is a direct response to Trump spending the summer trying to get the Postal Service to refuse mail-in ballots (which the Supreme Court blocked). Interfering with a mail ballot on its way to the elections office is now a felony in California.
AB 1664 provides a mechanism for state officials to step in the moment any law enforcement agency shows up at a county elections office with a warrant or subpoena for election records or voting equipment.
SB 884 limits arrests near a polling place to real crimes against people or property and real disruptions of voting, which means nobody gets hauled out of line for anything less.
As Newsom said, “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.”
Thousands of Your Neighbors Are Signing Up So You Can Vote Peacefully and Joyfully With Your Community
Picture your polling place on the first morning of early voting: The line is moving, a poll worker is greeting people at the door, and nearby is a neighbor with a nonpartisan name tag making sure all your voting questions get answered.
Common Cause announced last Thursday that it’s deploying an enormous election protection program for these midterms. Thousands of people have already signed up nationwide. They’re everyday Americans who raised their hand to get trained up on the voting rules in their state, and they’ll be at polling places and drop boxes answering questions, catching any problems early, and calling in help if needed. Their on-the-ground effort is supported by the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline, which any voter can call with questions or concerns.
Thousands of neighbors haven’t signed up for something like this out of fear. They’re signing up because they’ve decided the answer to Trump’s threats is to show up in person for their fellow voters. They’re signing up to help you vote peacefully and joyfully with your community.
This Year, Voting is a Movement
This is our playbook: the People’s Playbook. This election belongs to us, and we’re taking steps in advance to make sure they know it.
If you know someone anxious about voting this fall, send them this news. Let them know they’re not walking into that polling place alone. They’re walking in behind the power and protection of state legislatures, civil rights attorneys, and thousands of volunteers who got there first—all so that voting can feel like what it is: millions of us, together, choosing our own future.
Here’s how you can join in that joy:
Sign up to be an election protection volunteer at protectthevote.net.
Save 866-OUR-VOTE in your phone. Text it to anyone who might be nervous.
Check your registration and your state’s early voting dates.
Make the midterms feel celebratory with efforts like It’s Ours and We Are America, and We Vote.
Trump will never stop trying to make our elections feel uncertain. We don’t have to listen. We are not a People who sit idly by in the face of fear and oppression. We’re America, and we vote.