Federal officials say they are investigating multiple claims of election fraud during this week’s California primary election – even as millions of ballots remain uncounted.
On Saturday morning, state election officials indicated over 5 million ballots had been tallied – but there are still roughly 3.5 million to go.
According to the California Secretary of State, vote counters have 30 days from Election Day to submit final results — a timeframe known as the canvass period.
“During the 30-day canvass period, county elections officials will process and count provisional ballots, ballots from voters who registered and voted conditionally (Same Day Voter Registration), and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days of the election,” the SOS says. “This process includes a comparison of signatures on envelopes to the signatures on file. If a signature is missing or does not compare to the signature on file, state law requires county elections officials to reach out to voters to verify their signature to ensure that their ballot can be counted. By law, voters are allowed to verify their signature up to two days before the county certifies their results.
“Also, during the canvass period, counties must count and report on all ballots (with some exceptions) by the 13th day after the election,” the SOS further explains. “Exceptions include ballots requiring duplication, forwarded ballots, provisional and conditional ballots, vote-by-mail ballots with signature cure issues, and ballots with valid postmarks received after the fourth day following the election.”
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, when announcing the investigations on Friday, did not mention any specific cases or provide details about the allegations being examined.
“Protecting the integrity of California’s elections is a top priority for my office,” Essayli wrote on social media. “We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent.”
Essayli’s comments came a day after President Donald Trump claimed on his social media network, Truth Social, that California’s election was being investigated by federal prosecutors, alleging “big cheating by the Democrats in California.” The president also did not immediately provide evidence to support the allegation.
“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California,” Trump wrote. “Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???”
As for the race for California governor, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra will advance to the November general election, the Associated Press declared.
Fellow Democrat Tom Steyer also gained in the governor’s race Friday, edging closer to second place, which is held by Republican Steve Hilton. As of Saturday morning, Hilton has more than 26% of the vote with 68% of votes counted. Steyer has 21% of the vote.
When it comes to the Los Angeles mayoral race, incumbent Karen Bass garnered enough votes to advance to the November runoff election. Her opponent has yet to be determined, although it is between L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman and former reality television star Spencer Pratt.
As of Saturday morning, a little over 70% of the votes had been counted; Pratt had 28% of the vote and Raman sat at just under 25%.
