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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.” 

Attorney General Rob Bonta doubled down on the effort at a press event Thursday in San Francisco. Standing next to a “Progress will prevail” sign, Bonta said California is a “constant, unwavering, immovable force to be reckoned with.”

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CA’s long vote count

It’s a blessing and curse of California elections: Every registered voter gets a ballot in the mail, and they get counted as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county elections offices a week later.

That gives voters every opportunity to have their say. But it also means that it takes a while to count all the ballots — and winners don’t get declared in close races for days, even weeks. For instance, three of the 10 statewide ballot propositions are still undecided (Proposition 5 failed today), as well as key races that could determine control of Congress.

• Secretary of State Shirely Weber, in a statement Thursday: “Doing it right takes precedence over doing it fast. The time taken to process ballots ensures voters’ rights and the integrity of the election.”

Thursday, her office released its first report estimating how many ballots are left to count in all 58 counties — nearly 5.5 million, including 956,000 in Los Angeles County, 494,000 in San Diego and 460,000 in Alameda. 

More than 10.7 million ballots have been processed so far. That’s up from 8.6 million just before midnight on Tuesday, according to the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. It’stracking day-to-day changes in the overall tally statewide and the vote counts in several close congressional and legislative races.

Counties have until Dec. 5 to certify their election results, and the Secretary of State will certify on Dec. 13. (Full Story)