Without evidence, Trump makes claims of election fraud in LA County

True to form, President Donald Trump once again made claims of election fraud, this time regarding California’s primary election. 

The president took to Truth Social Wednesday night to claim Democrats cheated through mail-in ballots, specifically in Los Angeles. Despite no evidence that there has been any voter fraud in Tuesday’s primary election, the president wrote that federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are investigating.

“[Democrats] are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES,” the president wrote in a late night Truth Social post. “Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.”

The president further undermined the country’s election processes Thursday afternoon, writing “we have the Most Dishonest Elections of any Country, anywhere in the World!”

California primary results: Incumbent Jeffrey Prang leads LA County assessor race

As the ballot count continues across the state of California, follow along as CALÓ News reporters bring you the latest after Election Day.

With roughly 46% of ballots yet to be counted, the race for governor has not been called for any of the current top three candidates — two Democrats and one Republican. The votes that have been tallied, however, show Republican Steve Hilton in the top spot.

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has been declared one of the candidates moving forward in the L.A. mayoral race, while it is still unclear whether there will be another Democrat or a Republican in the runoff. Again, there is a Republican, Spencer Pratt, who is currently doing well in early returns.

“We are aware of the post that was issued on Truth Social,” Mike Sanchez, the communications manager for the L.A. County Registrar/County Clerk told CALÓ News. “Our focus is really on completing the vote count… which is in accordance with California election law.”

Sanchez said county officials are “avoiding distraction and disruption” and invited members of the public to the county’s ballot processing center to see what goes into processing, signature verification and counting each ballot. The county also has a livestream of the count process at the center located in the City of Industry.

California is known for having a slow ballot counting system, which officials including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have referenced wanting to speed up. Final results for most elections, including those in this year’s primary, often take days or weeks to be released due to the high volume of mail-in ballots.

Slow ballot counting is also fueled by California allowing voters to register and vote on election day, as well as counting any mail-in ballots that are postmarked by election day, but arrive after.

Since 2020, the state has issued a vote-by-mail ballot to every registered voter in the state. While the president and his supporters often claim mail-in voting encourages voter fraud, it is only possible to become a registered voter by providing a valid social security number.

Every ballot cast is processed and verified before being counted.

“Accuracy comes before speed,” said Secretary of State Shirley Weber in a statement. “California is the nation’s largest voting state, with millions of ballots to process and count. Taking the time to do this work correctly protects voters’ rights and ensures the integrity of our elections. California has built a strong system that expands access, empowers voters, and ensures more Californians can fully participate in our democracy.” 

Newsom’s press office immediately hit back against Trump’s claims with its own X post, writing “time to take the phone away from grandpa and put him to sleep.”

In another statement, Newsom’s Deputy Director for Rapid Response Brandon Richards told CALÓ News that Trump’s insistence on election fraud is “a tinfoil hat level conspiracy theory that has been debunked repeatedly.”