EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Newsom's office and the state Democratic Party have lined up 134 election attorneys and over 800 poll observers for the midterms, focused on five competitive House districts.
The law took effect Sept. 19: seizing ballots before certification carries up to three years in prison. It followed Republican Sheriff Chad Bianco's seizure of over 650,000 Riverside County ballots, which California's Supreme Court ruled unlawful.
The Justice Department wants about 20,000 mail ballots it ties to noncitizens set aside; a federal judge called those claims "not credible." Trump has said election officials who count them "will all go to jail."