The Claim
On NBC's Meet the Press on June 7, 2026, former President Donald Trump pointed to the pace of ballot counting in California's Los Angeles-area governor's race as evidence of election fraud. "Look at California — they've been counting ballots for days now. That doesn't happen in real elections. That's because they're cheating on the election," Trump said. The claim is misleading. PolitiFact investigated on June 8, 2026 and rated the claim Pants on Fire, its lowest possible rating. Ballot counting pace in California is governed by state law, not by partisan intent.
What the Facts Show
California law permits election officials up to 30 days to certify election results, with most counties required to complete their count within 13 days. The timeline Trump described as suspicious is entirely legal and standard practice in California. Election officials cannot speed up ballot processing beyond what the law and verification procedures allow.
A key structural reason California counts slowly is that the state has the nation's highest mail-in ballot rate. In the 2024 general election, only 19% of California voters cast their ballots in person; the overwhelming majority voted by mail. Mail-in ballots require additional processing steps that in-person ballots do not:
- Signature verification against registration records
- Envelope curing processes for ballots with signature discrepancies
- Physical extraction and sorting before tabulation can begin
As of the afternoon of June 8, approximately 72% of ballots had been counted. California Secretary of State spokesperson stated: "Accuracy comes before speed." That standard is embedded in state law, not invented by officials.
No Evidence of Fraud
No election official in California — Republican or Democrat — reported any irregularity in the counting process for the LA governor's race. Federal and state election observers did not flag any misconduct. The race between Republican Spencer Pratt and his Democratic opponent proceeded according to standard California election procedure.
Trump's framing implies that counting time is itself evidence of fraud. But election experts and California officials note that slow counting is a direct consequence of legal requirements designed to protect ballot integrity — the very integrity Trump's claim suggests is being violated. The claim inverts the logic: the safeguards that produce slow counting exist to prevent cheating, not to enable it.
Pattern of Claims
Trump made similar claims about California's ballot-counting timeline during the 2020 and 2024 general elections. In no case did post-election audits or court findings substantiate allegations of widespread fraud linked to ballot-counting pace. More than 60 lawsuits challenging 2020 election results were dismissed by courts, including by judges appointed by Republican presidents.
Verdict
Trump's claim that California's ballot-counting pace in the LA governor's race proves "they're cheating on the election" is Misleading. California's counting timeline is set by state law, driven by the state's dominant mail-in voting system, and subject to mandatory verification steps designed to protect ballot integrity. As of June 8, 72% of ballots had been counted. No evidence of fraud was reported by any election official or observer. PolitiFact rated the original claim Pants on Fire.
The Evidence Dispatch also investigated this claim. Their full analysis is available at The Evidence Dispatch.