California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Wednesday aimed at protecting California’s elections Federal interventionHe said he expected President Donald Trump’s administration to try to interfere in this year’s midterm elections.
The law, which took effect immediately and comes days before next Tuesday’s primary election, bars anyone — including federal agents — from accessing voter rolls or election technology without a court order. Law enforcement officials are prohibited from disrupting election workers, except in public safety emergencies.
Trump administration officials have so far said they have No plans To send immigration agents to polling sites across the United States, a concern raised this year by several Democratic secretaries of state. But Newsom warned that “we have to be prepared for anything” because “there are no longer rules with the Trump administration.”
Voting is already underway in California, which is being closely monitored Primary for the governorA crowded field of Democrats and two viable Republicans are competing for just two seats on the November ballot. Under the state’s open primary system, only the top two vote-getters qualify for the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
Newsom, who cannot seek a third term, said the election law is a response to “legitimate concern” about Trump’s tactics, especially in Democratic-led states where the president has deployed federal agents over the objections of local leaders. The Democratic governor warned against underestimating someone who “does not believe in free and fair elections.”
He said in a press conference: “I expect the worst with Trump because he committed the worst.”
Trump is committed to ensuring Americans have full confidence in the administration of the election, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Associated Press later Wednesday.
“Instead of launching false attacks on the president, Newsom should look in the mirror,” she said in a statement, using Trump’s derogatory nickname for Newsom.
In an interview last year with Vanity Fair, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles disputed the idea that Trump would deploy the military to suppress the vote, saying it was “categorically false.”
California law also makes it a crime to intentionally take ballots from the custody of election officials.
Earlier this year, the FBI under Trump Seized ballots for the 2020 general election From Georgia’s most populous county, which is heavily Democratic and has long been at the center of the president’s false claims that fraud cost him the race. The FBI and Justice Department also sought records from previous elections in the largest counties in Arizona and Michigan.
Trump raised a citizen Redistribution of frenzy Before the midterm elections when he urged Republicans in Texas and elsewhere to redraw their U.S. House districts to help the party retain control of the closely divided chamber. Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee also released new maps that could benefit Republicans, with Louisiana expected to be next.
Republicans so far believe they could pick up as many as 14 seats from redistricting in November, while Democrats believe they could pick up six seats in California and California. Utah.
___
Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala contributed to this report.