The California State Legislature passed five bills that make changes to the laws governing ballot measures in the state, including a bill to prohibit foreign nationals from contributing to state and local ballot measure campaigns. Assembly Bill 953 defines foreign nationals as “a person who is not a citizen of the United States and who is not a lawfully admitted permanent resident” and exempts persons granted deferred action under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program from this definition, which is a unique provision from the other states that prohibit foreign nationals from contributing.
California law already prohibited foreign governments and foreign principals from contributing to ballot measure campaigns. At least 19 states have passed laws prohibiting foreign nationals or governments from contributing to ballot measure committees, with nine of those states enacting such laws in 2025. Including California, 13 of the 19 states ban contributions from foreign nationals. The others prohibit contributions from foreign governments or foreign principals or both. To see the complete list of states that ban foreign contributions to ballot measure campaigns, click here.
Asm. Blanca Pacheco (D-64), who co-authored the legislation with Asm. Juan Alanis (R-22), said, “California’s elections should be decided by Californians–not foreign money. AB 953 closes a loophole allowing foreign nationals to monetarily influence our ballot measures, protecting the integrity of our democracy.”
AB 953 passed unanimously in the state Senate and state Assembly. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the bill on Oct. 2.
Gov. Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 699 on Oct. 1, which would have allowed local governments to replace tax rate or bond repayment information on the ballot label with a statement directing voters to the county voter information guide for those details. AB 699 was passed largely along party lines, with Democrats supporting the change and all Republicans opposing the change.
The other three bills enacted this year received unanimous support from all voting legislators:
- Assembly Bill 94: State Asm. Steve Bennett (D-38) sponsored the legislation that prohibits local officers removed by a recall election from being appointed to fill the newly vacant position.
- Assembly Bill 1512: The Assembly Elections Committee sponsored the legislation that standardizes how local ballot measures appear on ballots by requiring “Yes” and “No” to appear on separate lines following the ballot question and vote threshold requirement.
- Assembly Bill 1513: The Assembly Elections Committee sponsored the legislation that made changes to election procedures, including requiring requests for candidate and ballot measure recounts to be filed with the secretary of state within five days of the official canvass.
As of Sept. 23, 78 bills had been enacted into law across 24 states in 2025. Since 2018, the California State Legislature has enacted 27 bills related to the laws governing ballot measures.
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