Trump accuses Democrats of ‘big cheating’ as he launches probe into California vote-count delays

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: President Donald Trump on Thursday, June 4, intensified his criticism of California’s election system, accusing Democrats of engaging in “big cheating” as vote counting continued days after the state’s primary elections.

With several major races still undecided and hundreds of thousands of ballots yet to be processed, Trump claimed a federal investigation was underway and questioned why California was taking so long to produce final results.

In a Truth Social post made during the early hours of Thursday morning, Trump accused Democrats of benefiting from the delays and suggested voters were being left in the dark while critical races remained unresolved.

Donald Trump questions California’s prolonged vote count

Trump's criticism came as election officials continued processing ballots from Tuesday’s primary elections, with several high-profile contests still too close to call.

“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???”

His comments arrived as attention remained focused on both the California governor’s race and the Los Angeles mayoral contest, where outcomes were still uncertain more than 24 hours after polls closed.

The prolonged count has once again put California’s election process under scrutiny.

While many states report nearly complete results within hours of polls closing, California often takes weeks to finalize election outcomes due to the volume of mail-in ballots and late-arriving votes that are still legally eligible to be counted.

Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton remain in closely watched races

One of the most closely watched contests remains the Los Angeles mayoral race.

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass has already secured a place in the November runoff, but the race for the second spot remains highly competitive.

Reality television personality Spencer Pratt is currently holding second place with 29.9 per cent of the vote.

Progressive Democrat Nithya Raman sits behind him at 22.8 per cent but has steadily gained ground as additional ballots have been counted.

According to the election tracking site VoteHub, roughly 333,000 ballots remain uncounted in the mayoral race.

Raman would need to outperform Pratt by approximately 11.2 percentage points in the remaining ballots to overtake him and secure a runoff position.

The governor’s race remains equally competitive. Former Fox News host Steve Hilton currently leads with 26.7 per cent of the vote, while former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra follows closely with 25.6 per cent.

Liberal activist Tom Steyer remains within striking distance at 19.8 per cent, leaving open the possibility of significant movement as additional votes are processed.

Why do California’s election results often take weeks to finalize?

California operates under a “jungle primary” system, where all candidates compete on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation.

If no candidate wins a majority, the top two candidates advance to a November runoff. The state’s lengthy counting process is largely tied to its extensive mail-in voting system.

Ballots that are postmarked by Election Day can still be counted if they arrive later. In addition, large numbers of voters submit mail ballots on Election Day itself, creating a significant backlog for election officials. 

California permanently expanded universal mail voting after broadening access during the pandemic, leading to even larger volumes of ballots requiring verification and processing.

Historical voting patterns have also fueled political debate.

Late-counted ballots in California have frequently favored Democratic candidates, allowing them to narrow deficits or erase leads established on election night.

In California’s last five general elections, an average of 38 per cent of votes were counted after Election Day.

During the 2022 midterm elections, approximately half of all ballots were processed after polls had already closed.

Election delays fuel fresh political debate

The ongoing delays have frustrated many Republicans and Trump allies, who argue that voters deserve faster election results.

Trump has spoken positively about both Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton during their campaigns, though Pratt has largely distanced himself from Trump's endorsement.

Hilton, meanwhile, has openly aligned himself with Trump's political agenda. Beyond the immediate election results, the close races have also highlighted challenges for California Democrats.

Despite holding office as mayor, Karen Bass failed to secure 40 per cent of the primary vote, a result that has raised questions about voter satisfaction heading into the general election campaign.