Fact Check: Were 675 ballots for Spencer Pratt really found in a dumpster in San Recto?

WASHINGTON, DC: Spencer Pratt's loss in the Los Angeles mayoral primary has sparked a renewed wave of election denialism, with even President Donald Trump calling it a “Rigged Election!”

The controversy began last week when the reality TV star-turned-politician saw his sizable election-night lead over third-place candidate Nithya Raman, a Democratic Los Angeles city councilwoman, gradually shrink.

A week later, Raman secured the second spot in the runoff, setting up a showdown with incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in the officially nonpartisan race.

Following the result, several election deniers circulated conspiracy theories suggesting the race had been rigged against Pratt.

One viral post alleged that 675 ballots cast for Spencer Pratt had been discovered in a dumpster in San Recto, fueling fresh election fraud claims online.

However, many users have questioned the authenticity of the claim. Here's a fact check.

Claim: 675 ballots for Spencer Pratt were found in a dumpster

The claim appears to have originated from a post on X (formerly Twitter), which alleged that “675 ballots for Spencer Pratt found in a dumpster in San Recto.”

The post further claimed that federal authorities were on the scene and that an investigation had been launched. “Let the games begin. Are you even surprised? The fraud is front and center,” the post continued.

The viral claim has garnered more than 26,000 likes and over 6,500 shares, helping it spread rapidly across social media.

Fact Check: False, No evidence to back the viral claim

The allegations made in the viral post are entirely false, with no credible evidence supporting the rumor that 675 ballots for Spencer Pratt were found in a dumpster in San Recto.

Searches of major search engines, including Google and Bing, revealed no reports from any credible news organizations about such an incident.

Notably, a Community Note attached to the viral post stated that “No city named San Recto exists in California, making the claim of ballots found there impossible.”

The claim surfaced after California-based GOP strategist Rob Stutzman told The Hill there is “zero evidence” of election fraud and that “people on both sides of the aisle that work in the campaign business are confident in the security of ballots.”

“But the length [of time] that it takes to count the ballots has become a bit of a joke and leaves a lot of daylight to be exploited by conspiracy theorists or by people who just want to advance the notion of stolen elections, like the president does,” Stutzman continued.

California is known for taking longer than most states to count ballots because it relies heavily on mail-in voting and conducts a strict signature verification process for each ballot.