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California Democrats and their allies are battening down the hatches for Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.

On Thursday Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a special session to prepare the state for likely legal challenges against the Trump administration, write CalMatters Capitol reporters Jeanne Kuang and Alexei Koseff. During Trump’s first term, the state sued the federal government more than 100 times, and is expected to come to blows again over regulations on reproductive rights, immigration, gun control and more.

But taking the feds to court doesn’t come cheap. The session, which will begin Dec. 2 when the new Legislature is sworn in, will mostly focus on approving funding for California’s Department of Justice and other state agencies — perhaps as much as $100 million — to file “robust affirmative litigation.” 

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It’s the final day to vote in the 2024 general election. While millions of Californians have already cast their ballots, many more will head to the polls Tuesday to vote on local measures, state propositions and our next president.

Kim Alexander, President of the California Voter Foundation, says if you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time. “Vote as early as you can. It could get busy. You are entitled under California law to take up to two hours off of work to vote. You needed to ask for that last Friday from your boss. So if you didn’t, they may not grant it, but it doesn’t hurt to ask,” Alexander said.

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Election Day is here, and for the millions of Californians who have already voted, there are steps they can take to make sure their ballots are counted.

After researching and taking time to complete a pages-long ballot, thousands of voters statewide each election have their votes rejected for their signatures, or lack thereof. Whether you forgot to sign your ballot return envelope or signed it in a way that doesn’t match previous signatures, your ballot can be fixed in the weeks after the election.

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Here is how to make sure your vote is counted.

Mail-in ballots on Election Day

For voters submitting mail-in ballots on Election Day, the safest option for making sure your vote is counted is to drop off the ballot at a voting site before they close at 8 p.m.

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More than 8 million Californians already cast their ballots just one day before the election, but even with the advantage of early voting, it's likely to take several days to determine the winner of several races.

In this election, several key races are highly competitive, with narrow margins of victory anticipated, making it a challenge to know the winners on Election Day, according to the California Voter Foundation.

And this election will be a nail-biter, since it will decide who sits in the White House and determine the balance of power in Congress.

And while the latest polls showed a landslide of support for Vice President Kamala Harris in blue California, national polling placed the presidential contest on a knife's edge. Harris and former president Donald Trump are battling down to the wire in swing states.