California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has signed multiple election bills and claimed they make it a felony to “seize ballots” or interfere with elections before state officials certify results. He framed the move as protecting vote-by-mail and pushing back on former President Donald Trump.
What Newsom said
“I just signed new laws protecting your ballot and STOPPING Trump’s attacks on vote-by-mail — making it a felony to seize ballots or interfere with our elections,” Newsom posted on X on Sept. 19, 2026. “Trump can try all he wants. California WILL protect your right to vote!”
In a separate statement cited by The Gateway Pundit, 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… These bills today build upon the wall California has built to safeguard our electoral process.”
What the bills would do, per the Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times was cited as reporting that future seizures of ballots under one of the new laws could be punishable by up to four years in prison, and that the package would expand early ballot drop-off locations and multilingual voting materials statewide.
Federal prosecutor responds
Bill Essayli, identified in the source as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, posted on X the same day: “Just so there’s no confusion, nothing a state governor signs can prevent @TheJusticeDept from conducting lawful investigations into voter fraud. We have started indicting election fraud in California. We will continue to investigate, arrest, and prosecute all violations of federal election laws.”
What’s not confirmed here
The source did not include bill numbers or the full text. Details attributed to the Los Angeles Times and the dates and content of the X posts are presented as cited in the source material.
