'Can you imagine?': Trump accuses California of rigging governor primary amid slow vote tally

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: President Donald Trump blasted California’s slow primary vote count as "rigged" during a campaign-style stop in Wisconsin.

Speaking at an agriculture policy roundtable in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Trump tore into California for taking days to report results from this week’s primary elections.

“Can you imagine?” Trump asked the room. “It’s four days, and they still aren’t even close to telling you who won. You know why? Because they’re rigging the election, that’s why.”

The President then made a comparison with Spain. He said California, which is home to roughly 39 million people, was being outpaced by a European election system in a country with about 48 million residents.

“I’m not a big fan of Spain, to be honest with you, it’s gone very far left, but they had an election,” he said. “Similar size to the state of California, a little larger, actually, and every vote was in by 10 o’clock in the evening and counted.”

Mail-in ballots and ‘crooked state’ claims

Trump used the delay as a springboard to argue for federal voting reforms, saying it reinforced the need for the Save America Act, which would require voter ID and proof of citizenship to register. “It’s a crooked state, we have crooked third-world elections in a lot of our states, and we should pass our Save America Act,” the President said.

The remarks came as multiple California races from Tuesday’s “jungle primary” remain too close to call, including the governor’s contest between former Fox News host Steve Hilton and former Biden Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Trump previously aired familiar grievances on Truth Social, accusing Democrats of election manipulation.

“The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES,” he wrote early Thursday. “Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.” 

In another post, he alleged “BIG cheating” and said votes were “all tied up” and “may not be in for weeks.” He also claimed the vote counting was “under investigation” by the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles, though he did not say who initiated any probe.

“Why the vote counting DELAY???” he asked.

California rules force slower counts

The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom fired back, saying Trump was “lying about California again.”

California law allows mail-in ballots to be counted if they arrive up to a week after Election Day, provided they were postmarked by Tuesday. Election officials must wrap up the process within 13 days of the vote, meaning results can stretch into the following Monday.

State officials also note that ballot processing can begin well before Election Day, up to 29 days prior. This year’s start date was set for May 5.

Newsom has acknowledged the downside of drawn-out counting periods, warning that delays can fuel misinformation.

“That means we must do all that we can to tabulate votes quickly and accurately," he wrote in a letter to county clerks and election officials last month. "Time is of the essence in preventing election lies from taking hold.”

California’s secretary of state reported that more than 4.2 million mail-in ballots had been returned and accepted as of Monday.