Assemblymember Dawn Addis has introduced legislation aimed at preventing constitutionally ineligible presidential candidates from appearing on California ballots.
Assembly Bill 1539 is Addis’s second bill of the 2026 legislative session.
The measure, titled the Protect Our Democracy Act, would make it a crime to attempt to place a presidential or vice-presidential candidate on the ballot who is barred from serving under federal term limits.
The bill comes amid national political rhetoric about the possibility of a third term for President Donald Trump, which is prohibited under the Twenty-Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Ratified in 1951, the amendment limits presidents to two, four-year terms.
While the constitutional restriction is clear, state law currently does not spell out penalties for efforts to place an ineligible candidate on the ballot.
AB 1539 seeks to close that gap by requiring a representative of each political party to certify, under penalty of perjury, that its nominees for president and vice president meet the constitutional requirements, including term limits.
According to Addis, the requirement is intended to deter attempts to bypass the Constitution and to strengthen safeguards around California’s election process.
AB 1539 is awaiting referral to a policy committee.
It’s worth noting that the bill is in its infancy, and faces numerous onerous steps of approval as it passes through the Assembly, and then the Senate before landing on Gov. Newsom’s desk.
Many bills never make it through the process.
According to legislative information available online, California lawmakers introduced roughly 2,400 bills in 2025, including 1,533 measures in the Assembly and 864 in the Senate. About 917 bills passed both houses and were sent to Newsom. Of those, 794 were signed into law and 123 were vetoed.
