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Assembly Elections Committee advances SB 73 to Public Safety Committee after 6–1 vote
Summary
The California State Assembly Elections Committee voted 6–1 on May 6, 2026, to pass SB 73, which expands criminal penalties for removing ballots from a registrar's custody, restricts law-enforcement access to voting equipment without a court order, and standardizes limits on vote-by-mail signature challenges; the bill was referred to the Public Safety Committee.
The California State Assembly Elections Committee on May 6 advanced SB 73, a measure the author said is designed to protect ballot chain of custody and guard voting locations against what supporters described as coordinated threats to election administration.
Senator Cervantes, the bill's sponsor, accepted committee amendments and told the panel the measure would extend existing protections in state law by making it a felony to remove ballots from a county registrar's custody after certification and by extending some criminal penalties to additional categories of personnel. ‘‘SB 73 would extend the criminal penalty from SB 851 . . . to military personnel,’’ the author said, and would ‘‘make it a felony to violate existing state law and take those…
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