As California voters went to the polls Tuesday to solid their poll on a measure that might block President Trump’s nationwide agenda, state officers ridiculed his unsubstantiated claims that voting within the largely Democratic state is “rigged.”
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the whole course of, specifically the Voting itself, is RIGGED,” Trump mentioned on Reality Social simply minutes after polling stations opened Tuesday throughout California.
The president supplied no proof for his allegations.
“All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, the place the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is underneath very severe authorized and legal evaluate,” the GOP president wrote. “STAY TUNED!”
Gov. Gavin Newsom dismissed the president’s claims on X as “the ramblings of an outdated man that is aware of he’s about to LOSE.”
His press workplace chimed in, too, calling Trump “a completely unserious particular person spreading false data in a determined try to deal with his failures.”
Nationwide rigidity is excessive as voters throughout California solid ballots on Proposition 50, a Democratic plan championed by Newsom to redraw the state’s congressional districts forward of the 2026 election to favor the Democratic Social gathering. The measure is meant to offset GOP gerrymandering in pink states after Trump pressed Texas to rejigger maps to shore up the GOP’s slender Home majority.
California’s high elections official, Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, referred to as Trump’s allegation “one other baseless declare.”
“The underside line is California elections have been validated by the courts,” Weber mentioned in a press release. “California voters won’t be deceived by somebody who persistently makes determined, unsubstantiated makes an attempt to dissuade Individuals from taking part in our democracy.”
Weber famous that greater than 7 million Californians have already voted and inspired those that had but to solid ballots to go to the polls.
“California voters won’t be sidelined from exercising their constitutional proper to vote and shouldn’t let anybody deter them from exercising that proper,” Weber mentioned.
Of the 7 million Californians who’ve voted, greater than 4.6 million have carried out so by mail, in accordance with the secretary of state’s workplace. Los Angeles residents alone have solid greater than 788,000 mail-in ballots.
Trump has lengthy criticized mail-in voting. As extra Democrats opted to vote by mail in 2020 through the COVID-19 pandemic, the president repeatedly made unproven claims linking mail in voting with voter fraud. When Trump in the end misplaced that election, he blamed expanded mail-in voting.
During the last month, the stakes within the California particular election have ratcheted up as polls point out Proposition 50 might move. Greater than half of probably California voters mentioned they deliberate to help the measure, which might permit Democrats to achieve as much as 5 Home seats.
Final month, the Justice Division appeared to single out California for explicit nationwide scrutiny: It introduced it might ship federal screens to polling places in counties in California in addition to New Jersey, one other historically Democratic state that’s conducting nationally vital off-year elections.
The screens are set to go to 5 California counties: Los Angeles, Kern, Riverside, Fresno and Orange.
This story will likely be up to date.
