Federal prosecutors have announced an investigation with the FBI into election fraud allegations in California, following President Donald Trump's unfounded claims that Democrats were "trying to steal" the state's primary gubernatorial election.
Investigation Details
In a statement on Friday, Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, confirmed that "multiple election fraud investigations" are underway. "Without commenting on any specific investigation, my office has multiple election fraud investigations underway in coordination with @FBILosAngeles. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent," he wrote on X.
Essayli also stated that the district office is collaborating with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon to "conduct a comprehensive audit of California's voter rolls." He added, "The state has stonewalled every effort to verify that only eligible U.S. citizens are registered to vote. This case is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal."
Trump's Allegations
The probe comes just hours after President Trump, in a series of posts on Truth Social, baselessly accused Democrats of "rigging" Tuesday's primary as results slowly trickle in. This process has historically taken several days in a state with 23 million registered voters and widespread mail-in voting. "There's BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???," Trump wrote early Thursday morning.
California state election officials have long warned that the ballot counting process could take several days. Contests for the high-stakes gubernatorial race and Los Angeles mayoral race, among others, remain unresolved. "On Election Night, we will have a good picture of the outcome of most contests, but it will take weeks to know the final results. This is normal," Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement Tuesday.
Expert Reactions
The delay has emboldened Trump to renew attacks on the Democratic-led state and its ballot-counting process, alleging voter fraud and "cheating." John Fortier, a senior fellow focusing on election issues at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., said the delayed results are consistent with California's past election cycles and pushed back on broader claims of fraud. "I don't think there's any evidence that there is anything going on in that delayed period that would lead us to believe that there's any votes that are being counted that are not valid votes," he said. Fortier added that California could reduce skepticism and improve confidence in election administration by adopting ballot deadlines similar to Colorado, where ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, but stressed that policy disagreements should not be conflated with allegations of fraud "if you don't have very concrete evidence."
Political Responses
Despite votes in newly redrawn districts still being counted, campaign accounts for several Republicans seeking reelection, including Reps. Young Kim, Ken Calvert, and David Valadao, did not comment on Trump's allegation of voter fraud or the announcement of an investigation. The lawmakers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. California Republican Party Chair Corrin Rankin also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, who leads the race by a narrow margin according to The Associated Press, echoed Trump's claims. On Friday, the frontrunner criticized an update from election officials in Ventura County, where they estimated roughly 86,000 ballots remain to be counted. "This is COMPLETELY unacceptable. There must be accountability for all the officials responsible for California's election shambles," Hilton wrote on X.
As of Friday afternoon, 60% of the votes had been counted in the race for governor, with Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra claiming roughly 27% and 26% of the votes, respectively.
