California Governor Gavin Newsom Holds Election Integrity Press Conference

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:28]Heat. Heat.

[00:01:05]Heat. Heat.

[00:01:12]Hey, hey, hey.

[00:01:33][music] Heat. Heat.

[00:02:24]>> [music] >> Heat. Heat.

[00:02:51]>> [music] >> Heat. Heat.

[00:03:30]>> [music] >> from the election. And we thought this was a timely bill. I just want to express gratitude to our two senators and assembly woman for their outstanding work to address the anxiety that has been expressed almost universally about what's going on uh with this well what's going on to address the issue of uh the anxiety the growing anxiety about fair and free elections the anxiety around intimidation the anxiety uh around uh protecting uh the sanctity of the voting process and uh in many ways this is one of a number of bills But in many ways, this begins to answer that question in a substantive way, the bill that I'm about to sign. But rather than belaboring the point, I'll uh I'll finish up. I I wanted to hear from our authors. Uh and assembly woman uh perhaps will listen to you first and walk us through with all your background by the way. Full disclosure, >> seven years as a chief elected official.

[00:04:54]>> Yeah. So, you know a thing or two about the bill uh that you've gotten to my desk.

[00:04:58]>> Yes. Well, I just want to thank you for agreeing to sign it today. Okay, I'm going to hold you to that. Um, the bill does three important things. First, it strengthens protections for the chain of custody of voter ballots by increasing the accountability for the unlawful seizure or removal of ballots from elections officials. When the sheriff in Riverside seized the 650,000 in ballots from the elections official, I was horrified. Breaking that chain of custody breaks the trust that voters have in our elections. Uh second, the bill prohibits unauthorized access to voting systems, voting machines, or voter data without lawful judicial authorization.

[00:05:38]And third, it gives the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and local elections officials stronger legal tools to respond quickly when election interference threatens voter confidence or election administration. So, let me be clear. Election workers should never fear political intimidation for simply doing their job. [snorts] Voters should never wonder whether ballots were improperly handled. And law enforcement powers should never be misused in ways that jeopardize the integrity of our democratic process. So SB73 helps to ensure that California elections remain secure, transparent, and administered according to the rule of law. Our democracy depends not only on the right to vote, but on the public's confidence that every lawful vote will be protected and counted fairly. So, thank you for the opportunity to be here today.

[00:06:32]>> I appreciate Senator, you >> sure? Well, thank you, Governor, and thank you, Assembly Member Pelerin and Senator Svantes for your leadership in this space. Um, let me take you back to election day, November of 1988. You youngsters, don't roll your eyes yet. Uh on election day 1988, um I was the federal prosecutor. I was assigned as the duty officer for any election irregularities. Early that morning, I got a call that there were police officers stopping Latinos from voting in Orange County. You hear weird things all the time in that job. Couple hours later, I got another phone call, then a third phone call. So I grabbed another prosecutor. We went out and there was a person, a police woman with a big sign. It said, "Nonitizens may not vote." We watched as a Latino couple or what appeared to be a Latino couple approached her, engaged in conversation, turned and walked away. Now, we had heard that they were asking for proof of citizenship. They turned, walked away, we got out of the car, and of course, we were prosecutors, white shirt, red tie, blue suit. Uh she dropped her sign, we pursued for 30 seconds, lost her that time. That wasn't illegal. I didn't know it wasn't illegal to do that at time, but the person who was responsible actually won that election. There were no Democrats elected at any level in Orange County. Um, I ran against that guy, Kurt Pringle, and won. Uh, but that was the catalyst that got me into public life, at least elective public life. And so I thought, you know, 36 years ago that that issue was probably done. And here we are today. Here we are today where the president of United States and others are saying, "Hey, we're going to do the exact same same things. We're going to engage in what is essentially intimidation of voters." And so, thank you to the leaders here in California for not standing for that, for being proactive to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to protect the integrity of this election as it has been protected for for decades and decades until somebody started to threaten it. And so, uh, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Senator Cvantes. Thank you again for your leadership.

[00:08:34]>> Yes. Well, right now California is standing with courage, standing with urgency to protect voters rights to cast a ballot free from intimidation or interference. We've seen an incident in my own home county of Riverside where ballots were seized and the chain of custody was broken. That is against the law. SB73 puts in protections to ensure that ballots will be secured and that voters have confidence in our election system that their voices will be heard at the ballot box. I am grateful that we are standing in this moment today to protect the integrity of our elections. I'm grateful to the governor, to the prom, to the speaker, and to my legislative colleagues for meeting this moment with urgency and meeting this moment with resolve.

[00:09:32]>> I appreciate Senator, and thank you all of you for your leadership in this space. As I noted, this is not the um the final word uh on election integrity.

[00:09:41]Quite the contrary, we signaled in the May revise um our ongoing uh negotiations and conversations around uh providing more resources not just for the June uh ballot but obviously for the November ballot. Uh and those conversations continue to be extraordinarily productive as I hinted a moment ago and Senator Zervantes in particular among others have other election bills that are teen up that are being negotiated amended in real time.

[00:10:05]We've been monitoring and watching those as well. This one is a first um good bill to sign in the basis of two things.

[00:10:14]One, it goes in effect immediately upon my signature. Number one, so in many ways, it addresses some of the anxieties uh around uh next Tuesday's election. Uh does it address all the issues in the past? No. And that's inevitable question. And obviously that was part of the debate. I don't want to overstate it. Would this quote unquote have stopped what happened uh with an individual uh in Riverside County? Not necessarily. though there are aspects and component parts that certainly uh would make it more difficult and wouldn't require necessarily uh the clarification uh of the state supreme court uh that ultimately ended uh the abuse uh in Riverside County with those 650,000 ballots and that is uh certainly benefit that clarity is bene uh going to get benefited because of the legislation. Um this is about sending information out with clarity drawing a line uh in terms of what you can and cannot do as it relates to the registars uh coming out of the DOJ the AG's office which is important that clarification is important it addresses the issue of peace officers and any prospect of intimidation addresses the issues as was suggested around chain of custody um and so I think it's an important uh group of of uh specific provisions uh and part of what will be a mosaic of uh of of of grouped legislation to address the legitimate anxiety that is out there.

[00:11:36]And I say legitimate and I forgive me uh would be remiss if I didn't just briefly remind you uh of the legitimate reasons uh that we need to do this. I'll remind you that Prop 50, which was the election in question in terms of the Riverside County ballots, um that that was kicked off at the Democracy Center of all places in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.

[00:12:00]Um and as we entered the building, there were mass men in front of the rally to kick off the campaign that ultimately became Proposition 50, the redistricting campaign. Uh those mass men were led by someone by the name of Greg Bino. Uh we said at the time by the way none of them were necessarily identified. Um and uh there was no ID. There was uh as I suggest masked uh men with the exception of Bo was um you know certainly looking forward to engaging all of you in pining. Uh we said at the time was a preview of things to come. Uh he became a household name ultimately was fired by the Trump administration retired um after his antics that led to the deaths of two people uh in Minnesota. and of course antics that were extended all across the United States. Uh, of course that happened after the federalization of the National Guard. 4,000 National Guard were federalized. 700 active duty Marines were sent not overseas, uh, but to the second largest city in the United States of America. We said at the time that was a preview of things to come as well. Of course, we saw that played out the streets of DC, Illinois, uh, and elsewhere. And we make this point to make the point that needs to be made. uh this is all happening uh in open sight.

[00:13:14]What happens is it's a stacking. It's not the one act. It's the sum total of all of these things happening. There's a pattern and that that's what this legislation begins to address. A pattern of actions. That pattern, by the way, unfolded in primarily blue states where the Trump administration tried to access the voting roles of our state. uh if not for the courts and the state of mind of the attorney generals and governors in those states uh he likely would have had access to that. He's trying to vandalize trust as it relates to vote by mail. Uh and so many other categories with Save Act has tried to even make it more difficult to register uh which is not just about voter ID that act. It's about registration and deciding who and who cannot vote. All of these are consistent with the phone call uh the origin story here that he made to Greg Abbott saying he's entitled to five seats in an effort to rig the election before one vote is cast before November. And we're seeing that played out uh all across this country now after the Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act section two. And none more gling and outrageous uh than what Governor Landry uh did and is doing in Louisiana where he suspended an election that was already underway where tens of thousands of voters had already voted. suspended the election by declaring an emergency for the intended purpose of eliminating black representation in his state. Jim Crow 2.0. These guys are not screwing around. They're ruthless. So, it's in that spirit that I'm signing this sober about what we're up against. sober about the fact that acolytes for the Trump administration are actively encouraging ICE to go out just as ICE did on election day last November. The Bortac teams, Border Patrol and ICE the morning of the election last November, big press conference near Dodger Stadium to intimidate free expression and vote.

[00:15:28]It was exactly what Steve Bannon encouraged and said you'll see more of.

[00:15:33]It's exactly what the new Homeland Security Secretary suggested he won't rule out.

[00:15:39]And that's why we have to step up and we have to draw the line. We have to clarify the rules of engagement. That's why this legislation long-windedly is important. There are fines associated with this, criminal fines and jail time, three years.

[00:15:55]So, you know, that's a warning the folks out there that think they can do the bidding of the Trump uh administration.

[00:16:03]Uh and so eyes wide open. Trump himself just last week said yet again that he won the election in California.

[00:16:15]>> Can't even make that one up. I'm not talking about January 6. the fact he pardoned all those folks that were beating up cops and absolved them providing him 1.776 billion dollars. So not only you get a pardon, you get rewarded. Private army with ICE, private army of protesters, stand up, stand back as needed. That's why this is needed.

[00:16:41]And I'm very grateful for the leadership uh of all of you and uh honored uh to sign this important legislation which now officially goes in effect right right when you submit to us to the secretary of state actually. So thank you guys. [applause] Thank you guys for this legislation. Thank you.

[00:17:03]>> Question. Governor, from a practical matter, you signed the bill. Election day is Tuesday. What happens between now and then? It my understanding Correct me if I'm wrong. It gives the authority of the attorney general and secretary of state to give some guidance to election workers. Will that happen before election day? And what is that guidance going to be?

[00:17:18]>> Well, we've given we've given a number and thank you for just opening the door a little bit and forgive me just an adjacent point because we've been providing just on uh the natural guidance to our registars as it relates to timely ballot counting. Uh you know the new rules that went in effect to get these things counted within 13 days not 30 days. So there's been a lot of outreach, but this formalizes that outreach through the Department of Justice and allows them to move forward.

[00:17:45]This has all been anticipated this moment uh and certainly been part of the conversation. We could talk a little bit more about what the actions you expect to see particularly from your vantage point having served uh on the ground in terms of what your expectations are next Tuesday.

[00:18:00]>> Yeah. No, election officials are ready.

[00:18:01]They are well trained and they work very closely with their local law enforcement and the Secretary of State's office and the Attorney General's office to ensure a fair, transparent, accessible, and secure election for everyone.

[00:18:13]>> Governor, um you've called on counties to speed up the count to make sure that results are available quickly to to nip any misinformation and bud. Um that takes resources. Uh has and I know the advocates have asked for $55 million. I know that someone has money to educate voters on getting balances early. Is that money going to show up in the budget?

[00:18:36]>> Yeah, that's exactly what I opened up with as it relates to the conversation that we seated in the May revise. It was actual language in the budget about those negotiations which are ongoing. Uh we're in the middle of the budget negotiations as you know u middle of a lot of negotiations including a lot of the ballots that are u likely to otherwise end up on uh the November um um well uh a lot of negotiations but that is a foundational negotiation that continues and it's very very positive and we're going to land on a number very very shortly. Governor, the Trump administration is talking more and more about potentially pulling uh customs and border patrol from airports and sanctuary cities. LAX SFO potentially SMF would be this morning. The DHS secretary said that this is something they're hoping to be doing. No formal proposal yet.

[00:19:31]>> Look, I mean there's no rules anymore with the Trump administration and u you know and we have to be prepared for everything. And again, we talk about California, the future happens here first. Um, you know, it it tends to as it relates to Trump trying to exercise um this sort of unitary theory of government and um and had not been for the courts and uh the court of public opinion, uh he would have uh gone a lot farther than he has. And so we'll continue to uh anticipate that he's going to test the boundaries of that kind of authority. U he's got a lot of authority as president of the United States as it relates to those federal resources. Um and we're mindful uh that even under sanctuary policy uh of those rules and regulations that are uniquely federal in the context of not getting in the way of federal operations with federal funds based on federal rules and federal regulations. At the same time um you know we draw the line uh and uh and have drawn up plenty of of documents to litigate on a lot of these issues. So, we'll see what ultimately transpires, but uh you know, I I I listened a little bit at the cabinet meeting today and they're, you know, sort of jinning up the anxiety. They're going to jin up more fear about ICE this summer. You heard even from uh the Secretary of War uh talking about uh using the National Guard again this summer. Uh so that immediately in initiated unsurprisingly another conversation with our team our legal team looking at previous uh legal um well the adjudication from the federal courts and looking at our legal strategies uh to prepare and so that's the mindset one of vigilance.

[00:21:04]>> Governor on the topic of IS on the assembly board today there is a package of immigration related bills that are being discussed. Assembly member you were just there. Um there's a whole lot to to specify each of them for you, but I mean I'm curious, are you on board with the package? Are those bills you would support?

[00:21:19]>> I mean I mean thousand bills and so I I always cautious at at this stage of the process. Uh but directionally obviously we've done a lot in this space. Some we've been very successful uh nationleading efforts. Uh some the courts put a pause on particularly around masking where California is the first. So directionally uh I certainly have been very um engaged with the legislature for many many years and very grateful to legislative leadership in this space and I think the this you know many [clears throat] other states look to California's leadership uh on these bills and uh and so I'm also mindful of that directionally speaking govern >> as the election approaches in your mind what's more dangerous some of these tangible threats that you're preparing for or the type of disinformation to, you know, questions about the entire election process itself.

[00:22:12]>> Well, it's the it's it's the whole thing. We, as I say about Trump all the time, he's an invasive species. We've never been again up against something like this. And he's just not he's just winding up. I mean, he doesn't believe in fair, free elections. He he believes in competitive authoritarianism.

[00:22:29]Um, he wants an outcome along the lines of Putin, you know, 87.3% to 4.3%.

[00:22:36]uh it's a fair and free election from Trump's perspective and he's he's become so delusional uh that he I think he's almost starting to believe in his own BS about winning all these elections and he won in California and he won um you know in 2020 California >> it's madness it's madness it's madness uh and everyone around him knows it I think you know the question is who's you know Where the hell is his cabinet? They're complicit. I mean, this is a guy that I don't have to remind you guys of the obvious. I mean, he went into Falton County with the FBI. He was celebrating the old DNI. She's now been fired, quit.

[00:23:19]Um Tulsi Gabbard, but she was down there in Falton County. I mean, this is this is the back. This is reality. This happened. Try to light democracy on fire. Tried to wreck this country after January 6. Just pardoned all the participants of that and just gave them $1.8 billion slush fund. that actually happened. He has seized the ballot and he's trying to take over uh what's going on in Falton County, one of the most critical swing districts in the United States of America. He sent the FBI. He didn't have to get a guy who was a former member of the Oathkeepers in Riverside to do it for him. He sent the FBI and the DNI down there for that.

[00:23:49]This is happening. It's happening every day. He's attacking truth and trust. So, yeah, I'm concerned about all of it.

[00:23:56]What's happening to AI? It's happening all these elections. We passed bills um in this around deep fakes. You know, it's the the paniply of everything. He's desperate.

[00:24:06]>> His back's against the wall. And when you're desperate, your back's against the wall. You're prone to do anything.

[00:24:12]And so, he is just winding up.

[00:24:16]>> Governor, sorry. On on following up on ballot, are you currently in conversations with uh >> I am uh I will say this directly and tonally, we are in conversations with many folks. Um, and I'll just leave it at that. These are on on we're in conversations with many folks on many I'll repeat, we're in conversations with many folks on many different topics uh related to um ballots that have qualified. Uh we're also engaged with the legislature uh many leaders in the legislature, the leadership of the legislature, many individual leaders that are interested in um in these negotiations. That's the case almost in every um election and um certainly the case here where there's an abundance uh of initiatives on the ballot and uh I'll just leave it at that. Just interestingly got a update on uh where we are in those negotiations. So uh I can assure you they're uh they're they're not only being conducted but robustly and we're just beginning.

[00:25:18]>> Governor, you touched a little bit on um the threats from federal leaders um elections. Do you think those threats are credible? Have you been in touch with them? Should voters expect to see a move forward?

[00:25:31]>> I am I expect the worst with Trump because he's done the worst.

[00:25:35]>> He's crossed every single line. Again, he federalized the national sent active duty Marines to LA. 5,000 troops on the streets of Los Angeles sent out as mass men to intimidate people. The Bortac teams, again, these are the guys cosplaying with the Apache helicopters, the whole thing. He said on the day of the election it was it was rigged and he sent the Department of Justice, his DOJ to prove that it was rigged and then tried to go to the Supreme Court to overturn a fair and free election. That happened. It happened. It's happening.

[00:26:09]You had a guy who's desperate for attention and wants me to use his name today. I won't. um uh that that took 650,000 [laughter] about that happened took the California Supreme Court to stop it on April 18th.

[00:26:22]That happened. What has hap it's happening in Falton County. I mean it's it's extraordinary.

[00:26:29]And so, you know, this is uh we're pretty measured here in California, but we're resolved. We're drawing the line.

[00:26:37]We're holding the line. We're winning.

[00:26:39]and we are are trying to inspire other states to do uh similar uh efforts >> for one more fund that you mentioned. Um are you looking to take any action? Is there anything you can do about that?

[00:26:51]>> Well, I've been thinking a lot. I I'm not in Congress. I was out there in Washington DC trying to make a case a new um some good meetings with EPA. Lee Zeldon's a I don't want to get him fired. Uh but um you know there his team's working hard um to see what we can do to help the victims of last year's fires in Los Angeles and you know so I was up there around the time when legislative leaders were all you know discussing what the options were and so I've been thinking a lot about it in my flight back and one thing that I think we're going to try to do with your support is uh tax 100% anyone from California that receives any of those funds. Uh we want to tax 100% of those proceeds and that's an action the state of California can take. It's an action we look forward to taking.

[00:27:42]>> Governor, still no endorsement in the governor's race. Is that correct?

[00:27:46]>> Lot of endorsements out there. So no, there are many of them. You mean mine?

[00:27:50]That's different. Yeah. No, >> I'm I'm I'm the Jerry Brown of this cycle.

[00:27:56]on this and maybe this might be for our legislators, but the sheriff of Riverside County, I'm just going to quote him here.

[00:28:04]>> He has said that there he launched this investigation because there's a discrepancy in the number of votes counted versus processed. And so, how would you explain why that showed up?

[00:28:16]Because he's claiming that elections officials there could not did not give him.

[00:28:22]I could sure well I I I just want to say first of all that ballots can be subject to inspection. They have to remain in the custody of the elections official.

[00:28:31]So if he has questions about how the ballots were counted or wants them recounted that can be done as long as the ballots remain in the custody of the elections official and that work is done by them and that happens every now and then.

[00:28:44]>> So I I actually read the warrant. If you read the warrant, you saw that there was actually no crime alleged, which makes it deficient on its face. And it also has no uh ostensible reliable information. So when you say that there was inaccurate or excuse me, that the the vote counts were different between those u ballots that were cast and those that were issued and those kinds of things, it's just not the whole thing was not credible. It was a farce. And just to further add on, because of the chain of custody that was broken, those ballots are now entirely compromised.

[00:29:18]Uh, and along with that, this is unlike any other case where we where we've ever seen because it's usually the district attorney's office that's handling these investigations. It's not a Riverside County or a county sheriff.

[00:29:31]>> So, would this prevent like a judge in the future from issuing this kind of warrant?

[00:29:38]>> No, a court order that's separate above.

[00:29:40]that's not addressed specifically in this but but chain of custody issues are uh and obviously um we don't have to go back through the clarification process that the Supreme Court ultimately advanced in this respect. So it uh addresses those issues. That's why I suggest it doesn't resolve all of those outstanding issues, but uh but certainly directionally addresses some of them.

[00:30:00]And >> I have I have I just um every single thing that Donald Trump is saying only suggests that he will do more, not less, to intimidate uh and to uh um impact the outcome of this election. He he's just winding up. So I I absolutely expect the worst again because we've been on the receiving end of it uh over and over and over again.

[00:30:33]>> Sorry, but you said that ICE was at the polls last November. I don't >> ICE the Bortac teams were sent out the morning of the election at Dodger Stadium. They did a big show of force.

[00:30:45]Uh these are the Border Patrol tactical units and it was a show of force in designed to intimidate free expression and free speech. The same morning that on True Social, Trump said the election was rigged and had Department of Justice um investigators out there quote unquote proving it >> which is why it's so important for people to vote.

[00:31:08]>> Yeah. So >> I had a question about a different kind of threat regarding questions regarding the Garden Grove chemical incident. Um do you or other state leaders have concerns about the fact that there's residents you know residents living near those areas and if so what changes are needed investigation?

[00:31:26]>> Well I so uh we were just talking um how about those Orange County firefighters? Talk about rock stars. Talk about bravery.

[00:31:38]you were just describing some of the images of these guys not knowing what was going to come as they're ripping off layers to address some of the issues um of you know trying to determine what was or was not happening inside that tank in question. So I just hats off to all the first responders, the coordinated response to that uh to the residents, you know, 50,000 plus that were displaced and over Memorial Day weekend.

[00:32:01]Uh you know, um so it's the right question. Um obviously all of us are now reviewing and have been in real time um the safety records not only of this site but looking more broadly at other chemicals and other sites particularly highlighted by what happened tragically in Washington state as well. Um as it relates to industrial facilities in around urban centers that's a longer that's a that's a more challenging issue of of geography. Um but it only reinforces in my mind what we can control um and that is the safety uh and make sure that the state EPA uh and OSHA and others are working collaboratively with our federal partners. I will say I'm concerned as we all should be of some of the federal cutbacks to safety investments that have been made over the last year federally and are proposed in the president's new budget. And I hope this tempers that likelihood that they'll move forward with those cuts. I think they should be more robust in terms of those investigations, not less.

[00:33:08]>> But do you believe that more regulation of chemicals like >> that's what I'm suggesting as it relates to the rules and regulations all being reviewed, safety records being reviewed as well.

[00:33:19]>> There will be legislation.

[00:33:21]>> You're already working on >> these are tightening it further.

[00:33:25]>> Can we get a group shot real quick? Just wait for you.

[00:33:29]Thank you.

[00:33:30]>> Thank you guys.

[00:33:30]>> You're going to get a bill that also prevents law enforcement from coming.

[00:33:36]>> I saw that. That's what I think she was referring to.

[00:34:14]>> [music] [music]