California governor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of bills aimed at bolstering election security, including measures designed to thwart federal political interference, his office announced on Sunday - because nothing says "the world's greatest democracy" quite like needing legislation to stop the federal government from meddling in your own elections.

The legislation tackles a variety of hot-button electoral issues, including an extension to the hours for mail-in voting drop-off locations. Newsom specifically highlighted the vote-by-mail measure, framing it as a safeguard against the Trump administration's efforts to restrict a practice it claims - without evidence - is rife with fraud. The US supreme court recently blocked the administration's proposed changes to vote-by-mail, including an unwieldy mandate requiring states to submit lists of approved voters for mail ballots to the US postal service, which is presumably the kind of thing you propose when you want voting to be as convenient as a trip to the DMV.

"Donald Trump won't stop until he can exert dictatorial control over your free vote and disenfranchise millions of people this November," Newsom said in a statement, demonstrating his trademark gift for understatement. "California will stop him at every opportunity. We have no bigger task than fighting to protect the right to vote from interference and meddling - the future of democracy is on the line."

Another bill in the package makes it a felony to seize ballots or election records - an apparent reference to Riverside county sheriff Chad Bianco, who earlier this year took possession of over 650,000 ballots from a 2025 redistricting special election. Because nothing protects the integrity of an election like a sheriff walking off with a few hundred thousand ballots.

The package also establishes parameters around how political campaigns interact with social media influencers, imposing penalties on individuals who fail to disclose paid political content. This comes after billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer, a contender in the recent gubernatorial race to succeed Newsom, faced criticism for paying thousands of dollars to content creators who promoted him without proper disclosure. He was accused of trying to buy the race - a bold strategy in a state where that sort of thing traditionally requires at least a super PAC and a vaguely ominous TV ad.

At the time, a spokesperson for Steyer's campaign said he believed in fair compensation for the content creators' work, which is one way to describe paying people to say nice things about you online.

Newsom's package arrives after Trump repeatedly cast doubt on the veracity of the state's 2026 primaries, claiming without evidence that California's slow counting process was an attempt to rig the outcome - a bold accusation from a man who has never once let a lack of evidence slow him down.

"California is meeting the moment," said secretary of state Shirley Weber in a statement. "No one should doubt the degree of our resolve in protecting our democracy." And if anyone does doubt it, there are now several new laws on the books to make the point.