California Supreme Court

California's state Supreme Court has ruled that a county sheriff violated election law when he seized ballots. The decision establishes that the sheriff's actions were unlawful, drawing attention to the boundaries between law enforcement and election administration. The ruling is being discussed in the context of ongoing disputes over election integrity and officials' authority over voting materials.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a package of new laws expanding reproductive freedom and care in the state. California positions itself as having the strongest reproductive rights protections in the United States, and the newly signed measures build on that framework. The move comes as abortion access remains a sharply contested issue across the country, with states diverging sharply on policy since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The California Supreme Court has ordered the Riverside County sheriff to return roughly 650,000 ballots that were seized during an investigation into the November 2022 election in the city of Murrieta. The ruling hands the ballots back to local election officials, sharply limiting the sheriff's ability to keep pursuing claims of voter fraud in that race.

The California Supreme Court has ruled that a county sheriff acted illegally when he seized roughly 650,000 ballots, and has ordered that they be returned. The decision is being covered internationally, including in Ukrainian-language media, and is expected to intensify debate over election security, law enforcement authority, and the handling of ballots in a US election.

The US Supreme Court has ruled on a case concerning a Department of Homeland Security voter database, and officials say the decision will have no bearing on California's 2026 general election. The ruling resolves a dispute over federal access to state voter records, but California's election procedures and voter rolls will continue unchanged for the upcoming contest.