Former President Donald Trump has escalated his criticism of California’s voting procedures, making unsubstantiated claims that the state’s elections are manipulated following disappointing results for candidates he supported.
Trump’s latest accusations target California’s vote counting timeline and what he describes as the lengthy period required by the Democratic-led state to tally ballots, continuing his ongoing narrative that elections work against him and fellow Republicans.
During a television appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” broadcast Sunday, Trump abruptly left an interview when host Kristen Welker questioned his unfounded claims that California election workers were engaging in fraud because they “aren’t even close” to completing their count days after voting ended.
The following day, Trump challenged vote totals indicating that Republican Spencer Pratt, the former reality television personality he supported for Los Angeles mayor, had dropped to third position behind two Democratic candidates — current Mayor Karen Bass and City Council member Nithya Raman — nearly a week after voting concluded.
“Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had,” Trump posted. “Rigged Elections!”
State election officials have responded that California’s voting procedures include comprehensive security measures such as equipment testing, strict ballot custody protocols, and signature authentication processes.
Trump also referenced the gubernatorial primary, where his Republican endorsee, television commentator Steve Hilton, was running behind two Democratic contenders — former cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer.
“Now they’ll be working on great guy Steve Hilton,” Trump posted, appearing to imply that Democrats were altering primary tallies to prevent Hilton from reaching the final round.
California operates under an “open primary” structure where all candidates appear on one ballot regardless of party affiliation, with the two highest vote recipients advancing to a November general election runoff.
Bass has established herself as the leading candidate among 14 mayoral hopefuls, securing approximately 35% of votes tallied by Monday. Raman, who initially placed third, moved past Pratt for second position Sunday and maintained her lead Monday with 27.12% of counted votes.
Pratt, remaining in third with 26.69% of tallied ballots, maintained on social media Monday that he could still secure a November runoff position.
“Folks, we’re dealing with a fraction of a percentage point difference,” he posted on X. “There’s still hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding, and LA officials have given us the next three weeks to count!”
Sunday, Pratt suggested that a “net swing of more than 43,000 votes since Tuesday” originated from ballots submitted by homeless individuals. Referencing a recent annual survey of the city’s unhoused population that documented over 43,000 people experiencing homelessness nightly in Los Angeles, Pratt posted: “43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before …? Probably nothing.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson added his own doubts about California’s election integrity.
“They are counting votes for weeks after the election,” he stated. When asked to provide proof of election manipulation, Johnson responded, “Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream it is impossible to prove.”
Republican attacks on California’s voting system extend Trump’s continued promotion of false assertions that his 2020 presidential campaign was fraudulently defeated.
Sources close to the White House and others knowledgeable about the situation indicate that emphasizing 2020 election fraud allegations reflects Trump’s approach to justify additional voting limitations and motivate his supporters before November elections that will decide congressional control.
Through portraying the 2020 election as fraudulent, Trump is also establishing foundation to contest Republican defeats and weaken Democrats should they regain authority, according to multiple election analysts.
California’s extended vote counting timeline results primarily from a mail-in ballot system created to boost voter turnout, which Trump has consistently claimed enables fraud.
Most California ballots in recent elections have been submitted by mail, with those postmarked by election day accepted for up to one week afterward, extending the time required for validation, processing and counting. States conducting voting primarily at polling locations can therefore complete their tallies more rapidly.
