California rewrites deceptive-campaign-ad rules for the November election
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 502 on September 19 as an urgency statute so it governs the November 3, 2026 general election. The bill rewrites Elections Code section 20012: the ban on knowingly distributing materially deceptive election communications now turns on content material to a voter's electoral decisions or to public confidence in an election's process or outcome, the window narrows from 120 days to 30 days before an election, and disclosures must meet new color and font-size rules.
Enrolled text (California Legislative Information) → · Governor of California, The Nerd Stash