California Secretary of State defends vote count amid Trump allegations
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - Southern California voters awaiting final returns from Tuesday's primary election should expect vote totals to continue changing for several weeks as counties count outstanding ballots, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said today amid allegations by President Donald Trump of election cheating.
Weber noted that while Election Day has passed, California law allows county elections officials up to 30 days to complete the official canvass and process eligible ballots that remain outstanding.
"Accuracy comes before speed,'' Weber said in a statement. "California is the nation's largest voting state, with millions of ballots to process and count. Taking the time to do this work correctly protects voters' rights and ensures the integrity of our elections."
Under Assembly Bill 5, which took effect this year, counties are required to count and report most ballots by June 15. Certain ballot types are exempt from that deadline, including provisional ballots, conditional voter registration ballots, signature cure ballots, ballots requiring duplication, ballots forwarded from other counties and some late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots, according to Weber.
Election officials said results are expected to change throughout the canvass period as additional vote-by-mail, provisional and other ballots are processed and added to the totals.
The frequency of updated election results will vary by county depending on the number of ballots remaining and the procedures used by local elections offices to tally and report votes, officials said.
Weber's reminder came after Trump alleged on social media that Democrats were attempting to influence the outcome of California primary races through the counting of vote-by-mail ballots. Trump claimed without providing evidence that there was "BIG cheating'' in California and suggested the matter was under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "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. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS."
The U.S. Attorney's Office did not publicly confirm any such investigation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom responded on X, writing, "Trump is lying about California again -- time to take the phone away from grandpa and put him to sleep."
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump reiterated his claims, asserting that California election officials had "found a lot of mail-in ballots last night, shockingly.''
State election officials have repeatedly noted that California law allows vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive within the prescribed deadline and that election results routinely change during the canvass period as ballots are processed.
County elections officials must submit their final results to the Secretary of State by July 3. The Secretary of State is scheduled to certify the election results by July 10.
State officials encouraged voters seeking additional information about the vote-counting process to visit the Secretary of State's website at https://dp.electionresults.sos.ca.gov/frequently-asked-questions.
