Los Angeles County’s elections chief this week denounced allegations by President-elect Donald Trump of widespread election fraud, calling it a “broad brush” accusation without substantiation that threatens to undermine public confidence in the system.
“It is frustrating to see this ongoing politicization of the voting process even as California elections administrators continue the tedious and transparent process of canvassing the Nov. 8 general election,” said Dean Logan, the county’s registrar-recorder/county clerk and president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials.
“Broad brush allegations of voter fraud and illegal voting serve only to undermine the public’s trust and confidence in the elections process and run the risk of further deflating voter participation,” he said. “California elections administrators take the integrity of elections and access to voting very seriously. Our state has a history of accurate and accountable elections. Additionally, the voting process in California is open, transparent and subject to public oversight and review.” Over the weekend, Trump posted a series of messages on Twitter, contending that “in addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote, if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
He alleged there was “serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California,” although he did not provide any specifics or evidence to support his allegations.
The most recent vote tally from the Nov. 8 election show that while Trump won the electoral votes needed to become president-elect, he trails Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 2.5 million votes in the popular vote.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, slammed Trump’s comments in a statement issued late Sunday.
“It appears that Mr. Trump is troubled by the fact that a growing majority of Americans did not vote for him,” Padilla said. “His unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in California and elsewhere are absurd. His reckless tweets are inappropriate and unbecoming of a president elect.”
