Donald Trump is \u201cinventing fraud\u201d in California\u2019s primary elections, and likely to ramp up unfounded allegations when more races go against him, pro-democracy experts have warned.<\/p>\n
While the US president has used this playbook for years \u2013 from his loss at the Emmys as a reality TV star to his defeat in the 2020 presidential election \u2013 election integrity campaigners fear this time could be different.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia\u2019s election is not the problem here,\u201d said Omar Noureldin, senior vice-president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, a pro-democracy watchdog group. \u201cThe problem is that we have a president in the Oval Office who continues to lie and sow doubt over elections instead of facing accountability from voters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump lost his cool after a journalist pushed back on his latest attempt to sow doubt in election results, storming out of a Meet the Press interview which aired this weekend.<\/p>\n
The outburst<\/a> showcased a feature of Trump\u2019s approach if results don\u2019t go his way: he quickly declares them rigged, rallying his supporters and rightwing media to spread similar messages. California is the latest \u2013 and largest \u2013 test of this technique in this election cycle.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s midterms will serve as an example of how the president will wield the federal government\u2019s power at cities and states in a crusade to ensure his party maintains power.<\/p>\n In contrast to 2020, when his false claims of voting fraud helped set the stage for an insurrection inside the Capitol in the wake of Joe Biden\u2019s presidential election victory, Trump now has an administration stocked with loyalists \u2013 and election deniers<\/a> \u2013 who may not stand up to an attempt to undermine election results.<\/p>\n Trump supporters storm the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. Photograph: Leah Millis\/Reuters<\/p>\n He has few vocal detractors left among the Republicans in Congress to speak out against these efforts. He has a rightwing media ecosystem poised to advance<\/a> his talking points.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president keeps inventing fraud in elections he loses,\u201d said Edgar Lin, Protect Democracy\u2019s deputy impact director. \u201cNow he\u2019s aiming federal power at California\u2019s locally run vote. This is the same playbook he always reaches for, only this time he has the muscle and federal tools to act on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has repeatedly<\/a> called the California results into question as ballot-counting continued in the country\u2019s most populous state. In the governor\u2019s race, Democrat Xavier Becerra is projected to advance to the general election, and Republican Steve Hilton is poised to advance over Democrat Tom Steyer.<\/p>\n Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra speaks on election night. Photograph: Aude Guerrucci\/Reuters<\/p>\n California has a so-called \u201cjungle primary\u201d system, where the top two vote-getters advance to a general election regardless of party affiliation. Because it is a large state that favors voter access, its election results can take weeks to count \u2013 leaving a vacuum for misinformation to thrive.<\/p>\n All eligible voters in California receive mail ballots, and most voters vote by mail. The state also allows a grace period for ballots to arrive after election day, and it gives voters 22 days to cure any ballot errors, like mismatched signatures. The system is highly accurate, but can take time.<\/p>\n Trump claimed last week that the state\u2019s elections were \u201cunder investigation by the US attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles\u201d, though provided no details on what was being investigated. The justice department sent a federal prosecutor<\/a> to observe ballot processing in Los Angeles late last week. Bill Essayli, Trump\u2019s appointee for first assistant US attorney for the central district of California, claimed there were \u201cmultiple election fraud investigations under way\u201d, though did not provide details.<\/p>\n In the LA mayor\u2019s race, Trump said it was \u201cnot possible\u201d that the former reality TV star Spencer Pratt could have lost. Pratt, a registered Republican, was initially in second place behind the Democratic mayor, Karen Bass, but as more ballots were counted, Democrat Nithya Raman pulled ahead of him.<\/p>\n \u201c3rd World Nation,\u201d Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. \u201cRigged Elections! Now they\u2019ll be working on great guy Steve Hilton. Won\u2019t have results for, possibly, TWO WEEKS, according to officials.\u201d<\/p>\n The California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton in San Mateo on Friday. Photograph: Jeff Chiu\/AP<\/p>\n California\u2019s elections officials sought to explain the counting process in advance of election day, knowing voters would have questions about the lengthy time period to count.<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia has a large electorate,\u201d the California secretary of state\u2019s office said in a statement on Monday. \u201cWith more than 23 million registered voters across 58 counties, ensuring a thorough and accurate count takes time. Votes go through numerous verification steps including signature verification, tabulation, audits, and reporting of results to the Office of the Secretary of State.\u201d<\/p>\n After the Meet the Press journalist Kristen Welker pushed back on Trump\u2019s claims about 2020 and the California elections, he said: \u201cYou\u2019re either crooked or you\u2019re stupid. You play right into their hands with this crap. You know that these elections are rigged. Your network knows that they\u2019re rigged.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has made election denial a central part of his political movement. After voters elected Biden in 2020, he unsuccessfully sought to overturn results in multiple states and pressured Congress not to certify the results as a crowd rallied at the Capitol on 6 January 2021, culminating in the insurrection.<\/p>\n Among election advocates, concern for democracy \u2013 and about repeated attempts to undermine election results and voting access \u2013 has been persistently high since Trump retook the White House last year. They have \u201cseen the different ways that the administration is trying to throw the kitchen sink at sowing doubt in our elections\u201d, said Noureldin, of Common Cause.<\/p>\n The president who cried wolf<\/p>\n In his second term, Trump has used the power of the federal government in attempts to limit access to voting and to investigate his previous election fixations. The federal government seized<\/a> 2020 ballots in Fulton county, Georgia. His administration has sought access<\/a> to millions of voters\u2019 data via the states, resulting in ongoing lawsuits. He has tried to assert federal dominance<\/a> over election administration, a task largely left to state and local jurisdictions. He has prosecuted<\/a> his political foes while attempting to create a slush fund<\/a> for his allies who believe they were persecuted by the federal government under prior administrations. He has pushed for legislation to add barriers to voting<\/a> and called for mail voting to be banned.<\/p>\n