If you want people to have faith in elections, you must conduct them in a transparent and timely fashion. It is the opposite of what California does, which is why the conspiracy theories about California’s elections cannot simply be dismissed as wild and unfounded.
The Los Angeles mayoral race will be decided in a runoff between two Democrats, incumbent Karen Bass and progressive challenger Nithya Raman. Spencer Pratt, the only prominent non-Democrat in the race, fell out of the top two after a dramatic surge of late-counted ballots for Raman. Pratt was significantly ahead of Raman on election night (an 8-point lead, putting him closer to passing Bass than being passed by Raman), so much so that Raman was crying at her election watch party in a display reminiscent of candidates who know they lost. Even with Democrats benefiting most from mail-in ballots, Raman crushed Bass (who, again, has the advantage of incumbency) along with Pratt among the late ballot dumps.
This is happening in both the LA mayor race and governor race
Even if you think this is entirely legitimate, you have to understand what it looks like and how delegitimizing that appearance is
Conducting an election this way is a choice https://t.co/T0ApaEmZgN pic.twitter.com/pN2oiHsD3N
— Kitten
(@kitten_beloved) June 6, 2026
THERE’S NO SPINNING CALIFORNIA’S DISGRACEFUL, THIRD-WORLD VOTE-COUNTING MESS
You do not need to be a red-yarn-on-a-board conspiracy theorist to see how bad this looks. No one is even saying that Pratt should have been a guarantee to make the top two. But, when the late ballots break just so happen to break in the perfect way to elevate a Democrat over the only opposition voice in the race, and when Democrats in California take weeks to count the votes, people’s minds will naturally go to cheating.
THE GOOD AND BAD NEWS IN THE LOS ANGELES MAYOR PRIMARY
You would be hard-pressed to deny that cheating accusations aren’t founded, either. California Democrats have blocked any voter identification methods in their elections, and they refuse to acknowledge that taking weeks to count ballots is embarrassing and third-world. As such, you have a system in which Democrats always see a late surge in the weeks after Election Day. Here’s the question you have to answer: If California Democrats are cheating, what would actually be different?
If California simply counted its votes on Election Day, the lowest bar in a civilized nation, there would be no issues. Instead, California operates a third-world election system where ballots slowly trickle in and, more often than not, just so happen to break exactly how Democrats need them to in high-profile races. President Donald Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy theories were ludicrous and unfounded. The conspiracy theories about California’s elections are far less insane and are even justifiable, given the conduct and policies of California Democrats.