---
type: "Bill"
title: "Elections: deceptive media in advertisements."
description: "Existing law prohibits certain distribution of materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate within 60 days of an election at which the candidate will appear on the ballot, unless the media includes a disclosure stating that the media has been manipulated, subject to specified exemptions. Existing law authorizes a candidate whose voice or likeness appears in audio or visual media distributed in violation of these provisions to file specified actions, and it requires a court to place such proceedings on the calendar in the order of their date of filing and give the proceedings precedence."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "AB 2839"
citation: "California AB 2839 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Elections", "deceptive media in advertisements"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Pellerin"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 32
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2024-02-15"
last_action: "2024-09-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/917fedef-e671-42a6-b8d0-1cfb699983b7"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839"
source_hash: "c2e33a3ff685a8b85d9ff21c131793a5144345e044ec2cd1e2d563c5fb5e694b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2839 (20232024) — Elections: deceptive media in advertisements.

Existing law prohibits certain distribution of materially deceptive audio or visual media of a candidate within 60 days of an election at which the candidate will appear on the ballot, unless the media includes a disclosure stating that the media has been manipulated, subject to specified exemptions. Existing law authorizes a candidate whose voice or likeness appears in audio or visual media distributed in violation of these provisions to file specified actions, and it requires a court to place such proceedings on the calendar in the order of their date of filing and give the proceedings precedence.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/15/24 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283999INT)
2. **04/11/24 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283998AMD)
3. **05/02/24 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283997AMD)
4. **06/24/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283996AMD)
5. **07/03/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283995AMD)
6. **08/15/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283994AMD)
7. **08/23/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283993AMD)
8. **09/17/24 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283991CHP)
9. **AB2839** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839)
10. **09/04/24 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2839&version=20230AB283992ENR)

## Votes

- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–2** (pass) · lower
- AB 2839 Pellerin Assembly Third Reading — **59–4** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **6–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 2839 Pellerin Concurrence - Urgency Added — **63–8** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] — **6–1** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **10–1** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB2839 Pellerin et al. By Blakespear Urgency Clause — **32–6** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **11–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Pellerin — primary (person)
- Becker — coauthor (person)
- Bennett — coauthor (person)
- Berman — author (person)
- Cervantes — principal coauthor (person)
- Dodd — coauthor (person)
- Jackson — coauthor (person)
- Quirk-Silva — coauthor (person)
- Ting — coauthor (person)
- Valencia — coauthor (person)
- Weber — coauthor (person)
- Wood — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-02-15** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2024-02-16** From printer. May be heard in committee March 17.
- **2024-03-21** Referred to Coms. on ELECTIONS and JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2024-04-10** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 10). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2024-04-11** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-04-15** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2024-05-01** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 2.) (April 30). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2024-05-02** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-05-06** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2024-05-15** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2024-05-16** Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 5215.)
- **2024-05-16** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 3.) (May 16). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-05-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-05-22** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 59. Noes 4. Page 5511.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-05-23** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2024-06-05** Referred to Coms. on E. & C.A., JUD. and APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-18** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 18). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2024-06-24** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-07-03** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 1.) (July 2). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2024-07-03** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-08-05** In committee: Referred to APPR suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2024-08-15** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 15). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2024-08-15** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-08-19** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-08-23** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-08-26** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-08-29** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 32. Noes 5.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-08-30** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2024-08-30** Urgency clause adopted. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 63. Noes 8.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-09-11** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2024-09-17** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-09-17** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 262, Statutes of 2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/917fedef-e671-42a6-b8d0-1cfb699983b7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).