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Newsom Signs Bills Meant to Prevent Trump’s Interference in Midterms

The New York Times · Laurel Rosenhall · last updated

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed legislation that would make it illegal to interfere with ballots or election records in response to efforts by the president to restrict voting.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Saturday that is meant to prevent interference in California’s midterm elections in response to efforts by President Trump and other Republicans to restrict voting participation.

Related Knowledge Center: Voting rights

State of Play

As Republicans move to restrict voting rights, and Donald Trump appears to be preparing for another confrontation about election results, a wide range of organizations are pushing back.

Top guidance in the run-up to Election Day

  • Ben Wikler, a political organizer who was chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin from 2019 to 2025 says, “The very most powerful thing you can do as a volunteer in politics is to talk to your actual friends and family who are fence-sitters.” 
    • He quotes Abraham Lincoln, who wrote in a letter to a campaign committee in 1840: “Keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters, and from time to time have them talked to by those in whom they have the most confidence.” 
    • The place to put our energy, Wikler says, is on the people whose votes will matter most because they live in a place with high-stakes, very close elections, as well as the people where we live.
  • ACLU: Know your voting rights  |  How the ACLU is safeguarding the election
  • Report intimidation, at the polls or elsewhere, immediately to the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español).

More informationabout Voting rights