Trump accuses California Democrats, without evidence, of trying to 'steal' elections
President Donald Trump posted to social media late Wednesday night accusing the Democratic Party in California of trying to "steal" the California gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral primaries, offering no evidence to support the allegation.
In his posts, Trump complained about the alleged misuse of mail-in ballots and also accused the Democratic Party of delaying the tallying of votes – claims for which there is currently no supporting evidence.
The president also claimed that the votes are "under investigation" by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. That office declined to comment on the president's statement in response to an ABC News request.
California Democratic Party Chairperson Rusty Hicks told ABC News that Trump's claims were "baseless."
"Everyone knows California will complete a fair and accurate count. End of story," Hicks further said.
"Trump is lying about California again," Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office posted online early Thursday morning about the president's assertion.
Trump has often claimed, without evidence, that elections are rigged and has complained about mail-in ballots and the possibility of fraud. Despite this, he voted by mail in a Florida special election earlier this year.
"As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.,” spokesperson Olivia Wales wrote in a statement at the time regarding Trump's mail-in vote in Florida's special election in March for the state's 87th House district.
The White House said at the time that the president's mail-in vote qualified as a “commonsense exception” to the voting method, which the president supports, including for "illness, disability, military, or travel," but that he opposes universal voting by mail due to it being "highly susceptible to fraud."
The process of counting all votes in this week's California contests is expected to take several days or even weeks, a process that has played out regularly in the state.
The most populous state in the country is home to 23 million registered voters, which requires ample time for all ballots to be accurately counted. But in addition to the sheer volume of votes, the state also relies on a significant number of mail-in ballots, with some not arriving until a week after voting ends.
According to the California secretary of state, "vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days after the election, as well as any provisional ballots cast, must still be counted."
County election officials have up to 30 days after the election to count ballots. Final results from Tuesday's primary must be reported to the secretary of state by July 3, 2026.
The process of counting mail-in ballots and validating voters' signatures is also arduous, as each envelope signature must match the signatures on file, which can lead to additional delays.
On Tuesday, initial vote counts included early mail-in, early in-person, and day-of ballots. Early votes were allowed to be counted ahead of time but not publicly released until polls had closed.
"On Election Night, we will have a good picture of the outcome of most contests, but it will take weeks to know the final results. This is normal," Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement Tuesday after polls closed.
A White House spokesperson said that Trump has supported "commonsense exceptions" to allow Americans to use mail-in ballots, including for "illness, disability, military, or travel," but that he opposes universal voting by mail due to his claim that it was "highly susceptible to fraud."
An analysis from the Brookings Institution from November 2025 found that voter fraud is rare in voting by mail.
ABC News' Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
