Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) piled on to criticism against California’s vote-counting process on Friday, echoing unsubstantiated claims of election fraud pushed by conservatives, including President Trump.
McCarthy told hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby on WABC 770 AM that California voters were “continuing to lose faith” in the process, as results keep trickling in from the state’s Tuesday primaries.
“In my years of growing up in California, this is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” he said on the “Cats & Cosby” show, voicing frustration with the delay in counting ballots.
“We just had an election, and you can’t tell me who won?” he added later. “It was on Tuesday, and they’re telling me it’s going to be another three weeks.”
Officials in the Golden State have stressed that it could take days or even weeks to finalize the outcomes of the June 3 primaries, which included highly competitive races for governor and Los Angeles mayor.
The state’s rules surrounding how it handles mail-in ballots are a major reason for that, given that California allows extended time for those ballots to reach county election officials and still be validated.
State law notes that mail-in ballots can be counted so long as they are postmarked by Election Day and returned to county election offices by the following Tuesday — in this case June 9.
The explanation has not seemed to satisfy Republicans, who have accused Democratic leaders in the state of trying to undermine the results of the election.
“The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES,” Trump wrote on Truth Social early Thursday. “Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.”
“BIG cheating,” the president alleged in another post.
California operates under a jungle primary system in which all candidates are on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters move on to the general election, regardless of political affiliation.
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra (D) has already advanced to November in the gubernatorial race, while Trump-backed Fox News commentator Steve Hilton (R) and billionaire Tom Steyer (D) are battling for the second spot.
In the race for Los Angeles mayor, incumbent Karen Bass (D) is waiting to see whether she will take on reality star Spencer Pratt, a Republican, or progressive city councilmember Nithya Raman (D). Pratt currently holds a nearly 4-point lead over Raman, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Meanwhile, a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles said on Friday that his office had opened “multiple election fraud investigations” in the state, without providing specifics on the probes.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5913401-mccarthy-criticizes-california-vote-count/
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