As President Trump pushed unfounded accusations that California's election was rigged, poll security became a major flashpoint Tuesday in the state's gubernatorial race.
Republican Steve Hilton called for major reforms to the way Californians cast their ballots and how their votes are counted, while avoiding questions about the president's claims that state election officials “were cheating.” Democrat Xavier Becerra defended the integrity of the state's elections and argued that the proposed restrictions would disenfranchise many voters.
The men appeared less than 20 miles apart in Southern California a week after a contentious primary election that led Trump to make repeated unfounded claims about the integrity of California's slow vote-counting process, accusations that were sparked as Democrat Nithya Raman was on the verge of overtaking Republican Spencer Pratt for second place in the Los Angeles mayoral race.
Hilton, whose Trump endorsement brought him to the front of the Republican gubernatorial field, said he hasn't seen any evidence of impropriety in this month's election results.
“We're very, very focused on making sure everything is OK,” Hilton told reporters in Norwalk. “We have teams prepared, we have lawyers prepared, very focused on that. We don't want to disappoint anyone, we don't want to let anything slip through the cracks and we haven't seen anything.”
The two men emerged from a crowded field of candidates in the most unpredictable gubernatorial race in more than a quarter-century. While Becerra clinched a spot in the June 2 primary on Friday and will advance to the November general election, Hilton had not been officially declared the winner by the Associated Press as of Tuesday afternoon.
Hilton, however, appears poised to take second place on the ballot. Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer is in third place in the current vote count, and the odds of him overtaking Hilton look increasingly unlikely.
“I'm very pleased to say that we remain confident that I will be in the top two and that California will have a real option for change in November,” Hilton said at a news conference outside the Los Angeles County election headquarters. “We're not going to open the champagne yet, but we're very confident.”
Hilton called for election reform, including supporting a voter ID requirement that will appear on the November ballot, ending mail-in ballots to every registered voter, stopping counting ballots received after Election Day (all of which are being pushed by Trump), and increasing resources at county vote-counting centers.
“Voter identification [is] “It's not the only thing, but it's the biggest, fastest and simplest thing we can do to restore faith in the system and complete these elections quickly in a way that inspires confidence, and that's why I hope Xavier Becerra will join me in campaigning for it, so we can have a united front,” the former Fox News commentator and British political strategist told reporters.
Hilton did not directly address Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud in California. However, he noted that Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, has all the resources of the Justice Department and has found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Essayli said Monday on NewsNation that his office is investigating voter fraud but does not have a case. However, voter lists must be audited, Essayli told host Chris Cuomo.
“To me, that's the best way to alleviate most of people's suspicions. We have a system that breeds skepticism and distrust,” Essayli said. “We should have some transparency and trust in our system.”
Becerra, a longtime elected official and former Cabinet secretary in the Biden administration, questioned whether Hilton could be trusted to protect the state against Trump's fraud allegations.
“That's the one who supports Steve Hilton,” Becerra told reporters at a South Los Angeles diner, referring to Trump. “It's them that Steve Hilton is aligning himself with.”
Becerra, who was greeted with cheers from “If possible!” from diners, criticized the proposed voter ID ballot measure, arguing that it would create obstacles for many Californians to participate in the democratic electoral process. Spearheaded by Republican Assemblyman Carl DeMaio of San Diego and others, the measure would require election officials to verify that voters are U.S. citizens in order to vote.
“I am against voter suppression. I am against anything that attempts to limit a Californian's right to vote,” said Becerra, who previously served as California attorney general.
When told by reporters that Hilton wanted Becerra to campaign for the ballot initiative, Becerra responded, “Join me here where the real people are,” pointing toward the packed food hall.
Becerra acknowledged his concern about the long time it takes to count votes in California. He suggested one problem is a lack of workers and equipment at the county's vote counting centers.
Another problem is that “votes pile up” because many people wait until the end of the election to cast their vote, he said, comparing last-minute voters to shoppers who go to Costco at the end of the day.
“If you wait until 7:00 p.m. when they're getting ready to close, you'll probably find more people there,” Becerra said.
The attacks on the electoral process by Trump and his supporters appear to have a major effect on people's trust in the system. For years, Trump has made unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, leading his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were scheduled to certify the election results. Additionally, Trump's allegations over the California election, as well as an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on vote counting, could have a significant effect on the midterm elections that will decide which party will control Congress during the final two years of Trump's presidency.
A poll released Friday by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies found that 41% of California voters were “unsure” that this year's election would be free of federal interference. Although 48% were confident there would be no meddling, the concerns expressed remained significant, said political scientist Eric Schickler, co-director of the institute.
Among registered Democratic voters, 79% said they trusted election officials to provide an accurate vote count. Among Republicans, 55% said they were not confident that would happen, according to the survey.
