As California prepares to count ballots on Tuesday, President Donald Trump questioned the state’s election integrity and called the Proposition 50 vote “unconstitutional” and a “giant scam.”
Trump said that California’s mail-in ballot process is “RIGGED” and “under very serious legal and criminal review.” Tuesday’s Proposition 50 election in California puts the state legislature’s redrawn congressional maps before voters for approval. If passed, the new maps would add to Democrats’ numbers in the U.S. House.
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED. All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
It’s unclear if Trump’s mention of a “legal and criminal review” is referring to a federal investigation into California’s mail-in ballots or something else. The Department of Justice sent election monitors to California and New Jersey to watch polling sites and “ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law,” CBS News reported.
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom called for a special Proposition 50 election in response to Texas passing a new congressional map that will likely give Republicans five more House seats. California Democrats called Texas’s move a “power grab orchestrated by President Trump.” The California Democratic Party said that Proposition 50 “would negate the five Republican seats drawn by Texas.”
Last month, California sent mail-in ballots to all 23 million registered voters for the Proposition 50 special election. As of Monday, 28% of California voters had cast a ballot, according to The Los Angeles Times. The mail-in votes in Sacramento County have faced scrutiny, with some people claiming that a “no” vote on Proposition 50 could be visible through a hole in the envelopes, allowing officials to see how people voted. Conservatives, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the popular X account Libs of TikTok, criticized the mail-in ballots on social media.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat, appeared to push back against this claim, saying, “The small holes on ballot envelopes are an accessibility feature to allow sight-impaired voters to orient themselves to where they are required to sign the envelope.”
However, the Sacramento County Department of Voter Registration and Elections acknowledged that “there are at least eight ways to insert a ballot card into the return envelope, and only two of these might result in a bubble being visible in the hole.” But according to the department, “There is no way to determine how a voter voted through this small hole.”
Some California Republican officials also blasted the mail-in ballot theories pushed by some conservatives on social media. Los Angeles County Republican Party Chair Roxanne Hoge warned voters last month, writing, “C’mon people! If you’re worried about your vote showing through the hole, fold it the other way. Vote NO on 50!”
In another post, Hoge wrote, “Please don’t panic people about something that is easily addressed by turning their ballot around. We need every no vote and we need them now.”
The Republican Party of San Diego added, “It’s simple. Republicans need to stop complaining and vote. We ask and ask and ask and yet turnout still lags. To win this one GOP turnout needs to be materially better than average. It’s very doable but won’t just happen. Work it.”
Trump and Republicans have also expressed concerns about mail-in ballots being sent to California’s large illegal immigrant population, who are ineligible to vote. California officials claim that the state has safeguards that prevent illegal immigrants from voting.
Recent polls suggest that Proposition 50 will likely pass, giving Democrats even more power in the deep-blue state.
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