Trump, without proof, claims California vote fraud and orders inquiry

Key Points:

• President Trump claimed without evidence that Democrats are cheating in California’s primary elections, alleging federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are investigating vote-counting delays and mail-in ballot fraud.
• California officials, including Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, defended the state's election process, emphasizing accuracy over speed and dismissing Trump’s claims as misinformation and conspiracy theories.
• Vote counting delays in California are attributed to the state’s policies allowing mail-in ballots to be received and counted up to election day, requiring manual verification, which experts say is standard and not indicative of fraud.
• Trump’s allegations echo his longstanding pattern of questioning election integrity without proof, including claims about mail-in ballots and undocumented immigrants voting, despite expert consensus disproving these assertions.
• Political figures such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Trump officials also echoed skepticism about California’s vote counting, while polls show that trust in election officials varies significantly by party affiliation, with Republicans expressing the least confidence.