Most Californians fear government meddling in election ahead of Trump's latest baseless attacks, poll finds

SACRAMENTO – Even before President Trump's latest wave of unfounded allegations of voter fraud in California, a large portion of voters in the state expressed concern about federal interference in the election process, according to a new survey.

Trump on Monday called the Los Angeles mayor's race “a bogus election,” allegations that came after Democrat Nithya Raman beat Republican Spencer Pratt to second place in the ongoing election.

Raman's lead prompted Representative Abe Hamadeh, an Arizona Republican, to call for the election to be federal, or run by the federal government instead of the state, a message Trump echoed.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump said during an interview with NBC News that California election officials were “cheating.” This happened after the Associated Press revealed that Pratt had been defrauded due to allegations that Pratt had been defrauded. On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the election process in the LA mayoral race “smells to heaven.”

The ongoing attacks by Trump and his supporters continue to erode confidence in the nation's elections, especially among Republicans, which threatens the backbone of American democracy, said political scientist Eric Schickler, co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley.

“The president … wants to use those requests to make changes to the election system that would make it harder for people to vote, and that's certainly a threat to our democratic institutions,” Schickler said.

“One thing we have learned in recent years is that we cannot take the voting process for granted, we cannot take for granted that both parties will accept the legitimate result, and we cannot take for granted the idea that there will be no attempts to manipulate the vote counting process,” he added.

A new poll released Friday by the center found that 41% of California voters are “not sure” that this year's election will not be tampered with. Although 48% hoped there would be no interference, the concerns expressed are still significant, Schickler said.

Much of what was discussed was the partisan divide among voters when they were asked if they hoped that local officials would conduct fair and secure elections and that the number of votes would be accurate. Among Democratic Alliance voters, 79% said they trust election officials to provide accurate vote counts. Among Republicans, 55% said they were not sure that would happen.

California voters who don't belong to either party said by a 2-1 margin that they trust the vote count, the survey found.

“The good thing is that local officials are still very trusted by Democrats, non-partisan voters, and at least half of Republicans, although it's a lot less than I think in the past, and a lot less than you know we'd want in a really healthy democracy,” Schickler said.

That growing mistrust among some voters comes after years of Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and Republican-led efforts to limit the use of mail-in ballots and impose new requirements for voters to show ID and proof of citizenship.

Recent decisions by the conservative-leaning Supreme Court have also stripped federal protections under the Voting Rights Act. In April, the court significantly reduced part of those protections that had forced states to draw voting districts to help elect black or Latino representatives to Congress, as well as state and local boards.

Trump and his supporters used California's slow vote-counting process to allege fraud. The day after the June 2 primary, Trump said without evidence that Democrats were trying to “steal” the gubernatorial and LA primaries. The next day, he alleged that California Democrats had “received” mail-in ballots and were “rigging the election” with them.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber and other officials said California's voting system prioritizes voter accessibility and safety over quick results. The state has more than 23 million registered voters, and ballots go through multiple verification steps, including verifying signatures on mail-in ballots.

“Over 97% of our people vote by mail. They want to keep that system. That system needs more contact, more ballot touches, more voter verification. All those things take time,” Weber said during a recent interview with ABC10 in Sacramento.

Sen. Alex Padilla, who served as California secretary of state before heading to Washington, said the state's elections are “safe, secure and accessible.”

“Yes, we can and should invest in getting the votes counted quickly, but even though Trump complains when the election doesn't go his way, he has never provided evidence or proof of the widespread fraud he claims,” ​​Padilla, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday.

The office of Gov. Gavin Newsom called Trump's claims during a recent “Meet the Press” interview “the worst case of California Derangement Syndrome we've ever seen.”

Newsom is considering running for office in 2028 and has consistently warned that Trump may try to interfere in the 2026 and 2028 elections.

A Berkeley poll found that California voters overall — 74% — want the 2028 presidential candidates to prioritize protecting democracy and making voting more accessible. Of Democratic voters, 95% say that is important; among Republicans, 41%.

Funding for the survey was provided to IGS by Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, a private foundation based in San Francisco that aims to increase public participation and improve the country's democratic processes.

The poll of California's 8,578 registered voters was conducted between May 19 and 25 online in English and Spanish and has a margin of error of about 2 percent either way.

Times staff writers Alene Tchekmedyian and Kevin Rector contributed to this report.