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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Wednesday that aims to shield California elections from federal interference<\/a>, saying he expected President Donald Trump’s administration to try to meddle in this year’s midterm elections.<\/p>\n The law, which took effect immediately and came days before next Tuesday’s primary, prohibits any person \u2014 including federal agents \u2014 from accessing voter rolls or election technology without a court order. Law enforcement officers are restricted from disrupting election workers, except in public safety emergencies.<\/p>\n Trump administration officials so far have said they have no plans<\/a> to send immigration agents to polling locations across the U.S., a concern raised this year by several Democratic secretaries of state. But Newsom warned \u201cwe have to be prepared for everything\u201d because \u201cthere\u2019s no rules anymore with the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n Voting is already underway in California’s closely watched primary for governor<\/a>, where a crowded field of Democrats and two viable Republicans are vying for just two spots on the November ballot. Under the state’s open primary system, only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. <\/p>\n Newsom, who cannot seek a third term, said the election law is a response to \u201clegitimate anxiety\u201d about Trump’s tactics, primarily in Democratic-led states, where the president has deployed federal agents over the objections of local leaders. The Democratic governor warned against underestimating someone who \u201cdoesn\u2019t believe in free and fair elections.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI expect the worst with Trump because he\u2019s done the worst,\u201d he said at a news conference.<\/p>\n White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Associated Press later Wednesday that Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of levying false attacks at the President, Newscum should look in the mirror,\u201d she said in a statement, using Trump’s derogatory nickname for Newsom.<\/p>\n In an interview last year with Vanity Fair, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles knocked down the idea that Trump would deploy the military to suppress voting, saying it was \u201ccategorically false.\u201d<\/p>\n The California law also makes it a crime to knowingly take voted ballots out of the custody of election officials.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the FBI under Trump seized the 2020 general election ballots<\/a> from Georgia\u2019s most populous county, which is heavily Democratic and has long been at the center of the president\u2019s false claims that fraud cost him the race. The FBI and Justice Department also have sought records from previous elections in the largest counties in Arizona and Michigan.<\/p>\n Trump triggered a national redistricting frenzy<\/a> ahead of the midterms when he urged Republicans in Texas and elsewhere to redraw their U.S. House districts to help the party retain control of the closely divided chamber. Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee also have enacted new maps that could benefit Republicans, and Louisiana is expected to be next.<\/p>\n Republicans so far think they could gain as many as 14 seats from redistricting in November, while Democrats think they could gain six in California and Utah<\/a>.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press writer Sudhin Thanawala contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n