Marin County, California

John Turnacliff, chairman of the Marin County Republicans, has publicly retracted his claim that 73 dead people voted in the November Proposition 50 special election, which redrew California's congressional maps to favor Democrats. Speaking at a Marin County Board of Supervisors meeting, Turnacliff apologized to the board and to Registrar of Voters Natalie Adona, saying he could not substantiate the claim after further research.

The county had earlier reviewed the list Turnacliff's group submitted and found at most five deceased individuals on it, with no record of votes cast in their names after death. After buying subscriptions to Ancestry.com and another records database, Turnacliff found many people on his list were actually alive and said he "jumped the gun." He said he apologized to maintain a workable relationship with the registrar's office, though he stressed his retraction was not an admission that voter fraud doesn't exist. Turnacliff, who has scrutinized Marin's voter rolls since the 2020 election, said his group intends to keep investigating other alleged irregularities.

California legislators quietly inserted $1.3 billion in earmarks into this year's state budget, funding projects from a Santa Barbara college gym renovation to a Marin County farmers market and a minor league baseball stadium in San Jose. The money, allocated through Assembly Bill 113, was added just days before the legislative session ended, with lawmakers keeping their individual requests confidential until after passage.

An analysis found more than 40% of the funds went to nonprofits, with Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties—home to top Democratic leaders—receiving outsized shares, while many Republican-represented rural counties got little or nothing. Beneficiaries ranged from arts groups and museums to a mixed martial arts fighters' retirement fund and nonprofits with ties to Governor Gavin Newsom. Critics, including nonprofit advocates and taxpayer groups, say the closed-door process rewards political relationships over need, especially as the state confronts federal healthcare funding cuts. Legislative leaders defend the practice as a way to address urgent local needs efficiently, though even some lawmakers acknowledge the lack of transparency is problematic.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a package of 13 California bills tightening rules for social media platforms and AI companion chatbots to protect minors online. One law requires social media companies to either remove "addictive" features like infinite scroll and autoplay for users under 16 or bar those users entirely, a measure critics including the Electronic Frontier Foundation warn could amount to a de facto ban for teens. Another centerpiece, Adam's Law — named for a California teen whose parents sued OpenAI after his death — imposes time limits for minors, mandates built-in mental health resources and crisis protocols, requires parental notification if a chatbot detects self-harm risk, and opens companies to legal liability for failing to act. OpenAI has voiced support for the measure.

Additional bills impose a four-year moratorium on AI chatbot toys for under-16s, expand platform liability for harm to children, revise age-verification rules, and broaden child sexual abuse material reporting to cover AI-generated content. The package follows Meta's roughly $17 billion settlement with state attorneys general over allegations it knowingly fostered addictive, harmful platform features for teens.

The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco must return more than 650,000 ballots (over 1,400 boxes) seized in March from local election officials during an investigation into unsubstantiated fraud claims tied to a November special election on redistricting (Proposition 50). Justices appeared skeptical of arguments from Bianco's attorney, Bradley Hertz, who claimed sheriffs can seize ballots under warrant regardless of state election law, and that Attorney General Rob Bonta lacks authority to order sheriffs to stand down. Justices questioned both points, with one calling Hertz's reasoning "bizarre" and another "counterintuitive."

Bianco, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate, defied Bonta's order to halt the seizure and began counting ballots before the state Supreme Court intervened in April. Bianco said he would comply if ordered to return the ballots but may continue his investigation regardless. Voting rights advocates, including likely gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, frame the case as a test of sheriff authority ahead of the 2026 midterms amid broader efforts by Trump-aligned officials to challenge election administration. A ruling is expected in coming months.