The president is claiming without evidence that the lengthy counting process in California, which could help determine control of Congress, means Democrats are stealing the election.
It was a late-night missive familiar to anyone who follows President Trump on social media.
“There’s BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California,” Mr. Trump wrote at 1:05 a.m. on Thursday, claiming without evidence that election fraud worthy of investigation by the Department of Justice had occurred in Los Angeles. “Why the vote counting DELAY???”
Though the declaration by the president did not reflect a new posture — for years Mr. Trump has falsely claimed that American elections are rife with widespread fraud — his focus on a process relatively unique to California could have significant consequences for November.
The state is set to play a potentially decisive role in determining which party controls Congress. Because of California’s meticulous review process and heavy reliance on mail ballots, the country may be waiting days or weeks for election officials to count legally cast ballots before control of Congress is established.
While the time it takes to count votes in California is slightly different compared with other states, no evidence has emerged that its track record of longer counts has invited fraud.
The president’s posts on Thursday came amid a surge of similar false claims from other conservative influencers, raising concerns among defenders of U.S. elections of what it could foretell about November, when control of both houses of Congress will be on the line.
“It’s disturbing that the president of the United States still hasn’t the slightest idea how elections are run in the United States,” said David Becker, a former voting rights lawyer for the Justice Department who now runs the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that works to build confidence in elections. “He appears to be very worried about the verdict of the voters, and is trying to sow the seeds of disinformation early.”