{"id":70249,"date":"2026-06-03T12:39:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:39:59","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-03T12:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T16:40:00","slug":"election-deniers-spread-lies-about-californias-slow-vote-counting-textbook-election-fraud","status":"publish","type":"alerts","link":"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/news-alerts\/election-deniers-spread-lies-about-californias-slow-vote-counting-textbook-election-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Election deniers spread lies about California&#8217;s slow vote counting: \u2018Textbook election fraud\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s no surprise that California <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/newsletter\/2026-06-03\/california-election-vote-count-speed\" target=\"_blank\">takes a long time<\/a> to count votes, but the protracted tallying of ballots in Tuesday\u2019s primary races is fueling conspiracy theories among election deniers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn California, 40%-50% of the vote is counted after election night,\u201d conservative influencer Benny Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bennyjohnson\/status\/2061887533735195108?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a> on social media Tuesday. \u201cHow can voters have faith in the outcome of elections that they don\u2019t know the results of for weeks. There\u2019s so much opportunity for fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under California\u2019s jungle primary system, the top two vote-getters of any party advance to November\u2019s general election. Because of the widespread use of mail-in voting in California \u2014 ballots postmarked by Election Day but received up to seven days later are counted \u2014 it can take days or weeks for close races to be called in the Golden State. By Wednesday morning, roughly 60% of the ballots had been counted in California\u2019s heated gubernatorial election \u2014 and the vote tally was too close to call to see which two candidates would advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before polls closed Tuesday, election analyst Nate Cohn criticized California\u2019s prolonged process for counting votes.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sign-up\n\t\">\n\t<div class=\"sign-up__inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"sign-up__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"sign-up__eyebrow text--h6\">\n\t\t\t\t\tSIGN UP TODAY\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"sign-up__title text--h1\">\n\t\t\t\t\tGet updates straight to your inbox \u2014 for free\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sign-up__desc\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>Join 350,000 readers who rely on our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest in voting, elections and democracy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"sign-up__form\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/js.hsforms.net\/forms\/embed\/v2.js\"><\/script><script>hbspt.forms.create({ region: \"na1\", portalId: \"48216804\", formId: \"edec34b6-42b8-45e1-81d7-ef15f8bdee00\" });<\/script>\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe fact that California elections often can&#8217;t be resolved for weeks is kind of insane and not common in other electoral systems around the world,\u201d Cohn wrote. \u201cThe fact that it&#8217;s tolerated is bad too a textbook example of learned helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Election deniers and anti-voting activists immediately jumped on Cohn\u2019s comment to baselessly tick off familiar conspiracy theories to explain why California takes longer to count votes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIts because its rigged,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Timcast\/status\/2061948431849881957?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a> far-right podcaster Tim Pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCalifornia has some of the most corrupt elections in the world: No Voter ID,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DC_Draino\/status\/2061905803506864244?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a> Rogan O\u2019Handley, a popular conservative commentator. \u201cSanctuary cities filled with millions of illegal aliens. Print-at-home ballots. Ballot mules going door to door. Weeks to count. Even lefties are starting to acknowledge how terrible they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEvery single watchdog organization calls delayed reporting of results textbook election fraud,\u201d Seth Keshel, a prominent anti-voting activist, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RealSKeshel\/status\/2061808223771140338?s=20\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve been shouting this for six years and it\u2019s the most obvious thing in the history of civilized society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite what the far-right is saying, there\u2019s been no evidence whatsoever of election fraud in California\u2019s elections. And the delay in counting votes is consistent with the state\u2019s past reporting timeline in previous elections, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/stephen_richer\/status\/2062193753386095068\" target=\"_blank\">according to Stephen Richer<\/a>, a former Republican Maricopa County Recorder and Cato Institute scholar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is consistent with the state&#8217;s past reporting time period,\u201d Richer said on social media. \u201cAnd it will be the same in November. So don&#8217;t freak. Don&#8217;t claim fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite what the far-right is saying, there\u2019s been no evidence whatsoever of election fraud in California\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":70250,"template":"","meta":{"content-type":"","header_eyebrow_text":"","header_subtitle":"","display_share_icons":true,"custom_share_text":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"manual_last_updated":"","sortable_date":"2026-06-03 12:39:59","auto_update_manual_last_updated":false,"related_links":[],"_display_featured_image":true,"footnotes":""},"article-type":[47],"state":[38],"topic":[52,58],"coauthors":[299],"class_list":["post-70249","alerts","type-alerts","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-type-democracy-alert","state-california","topic-post-election","topic-voting"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CaliforniaPrimaries_AP26154341029115-1024x683.jpg","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - 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