Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles say they have multiple election fraud investigations underway in California, a fresh development that puts new scrutiny on the state’s ballot count as it continues to move slowly toward completion.
First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said Friday morning that his office is working with the FBI in Los Angeles on the cases, while Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert Renner was at a Los Angeles County ballot processing center later Friday to observe the vote counting process. For people searching what is the latest news on the election fraud investigations in California, the immediate answer is that federal authorities are actively looking at multiple matters, but they have not said what those matters are.
That uncertainty matters because the count is still unfinished. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said Thursday that taking the time to count ballots correctly protects voters’ rights and preserves election integrity, and her office said about 5.6 million ballots had been processed by Thursday evening, with an estimated 3.6 million more cast ballots still to go.
Essayli has said protecting California’s elections is a top priority for his office and has argued the state system has serious structural vulnerabilities. His visit, and Renner’s presence at the processing center, fit a broader push from federal prosecutors to look closely at the count at the same moment Donald Trump has publicly alleged cheating in California’s primary. Trump offered no evidence for those claims, while California officials say the slow pace reflects a careful, accurate process rather than fraud.
The counting site itself is open to public observation by appointment, and a spokesperson for Dean Logan said Renner’s visit was in line with other routine observations of the process. Steve Hilton also said Friday that he expects to make it to November’s head-to-head race between the top two primary finishers, and he urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to deploy state resources to help ensure results are verified by next Thursday. Newsom, through spokesman Brandon Richards, has said the governor has nothing to do with counting ballots.
What remains unclear is whether the federal investigations are tied to a specific race, a batch of ballots or a broader concern about the state’s mail system. For now, the headline is not a conclusion but a fact: federal prosecutors are still looking, California officials are still counting, and no one has yet said what the cases will prove.
