California ballot count delay fuels election fraud accusations

Nearly 4 million California mail‑in ballots – about 42 % of the total – remained unprocessed 48 hours after polls closed, prompting intense political criticism. Republican commentators such as Steve Hilton have called the slowdown “outright fraud,” while Assemblymember Gail Pellerin warned, “There’s nothing in the law that says I need to meet your deadline.” Officials cite strict verification steps, including signature checks and audits, as the cause of the backlog; Riverside County recently seized 650,000 ballots and Humboldt County admitted a clerical error that left 596 ballots unopened.

The delay left key primary races uncalled, with roughly one‑third of the votes still pending. Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed legislation to accelerate counting, has rejected fraud allegations made by President Donald Trump and other GOP figures, who are using the situation to promote voting‑restriction bills. Election experts like Eric Schickler note that the protracted tally “is just the playing out of a legal process,” and argue it is designed to protect against fraud while accommodating California’s universal mail‑in voting system.