'Diabolical and upstream': Mike Johnson claims California elections are rigged

California is facing renewed allegations of election fraud as Republicans cast doubt on the state's integrity due to the long time it takes to finalize results. While President Donald Trump launched attacks on the primary elections over the weekend, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday asserted that the polls "stink to high heaven," and the malicious efforts are so deeply rooted that it is "impossible to prove" foul play. 

"They are counting votes weeks after the election,” Johnson said while talking to reporters in the Capitol. "I'm not saying it's rigged. I'm saying it stinks to high heaven, and everybody knows that," he added. California has a system of sending voters mail-in ballots, which are used by the overwhelming majority of residents, according to official data. The ballots are counted by Election Day and are received up to a week after Election Day, meaning primary ballots received through June 9 will be counted.

This delay has agitated political commentators and Republicans who claim the process is taking so long because it's rigged. When Johnson was asked what evidence he had to prove the election fraud questions, he brushed it off, saying, "Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream that it's impossible to prove, but I think everybody knows instinctively, something is wrong here, and that's a concern," Johnson said.

Republicans have voiced suspicions of foul play as Republican Spencer Pratt was knocked to third place over the weekend, and Democrat Tom Steyer gained ground on second place. Reacting to Pratt slipping down, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "No way this could have happened. Rigged Election!" Further, in an interview with NBC's Kristen Welker, which he walked out of, Trump said, "They [Republicans] are dropping fast because it's a rigged election," without backing up his claims with any evidence.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department sent a federal prosecutor to observe ballot counting in Los Angeles, and the first assistant US attorney for the central district of California, Bill Essayli, the state's Attorney General, confirmed, according to The Guardian. In a social media post, Essayli even debunked a rumor of a candidate receiving zero votes, after reviewing the county records. 

Furthermore, state election officials and Democratic lawmakers have expressed that the system is functioning as intended and the process is slow due to all the checks and balances in place that prevent voter fraud. California's expansive ballot system requires rigorous verification, as the signatures on the ballots are electronically verified before human checks. "We have more voter protections in California than any other state in the country, to try to make it as easy as possible for voters to participate in their democracy," sai Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, ABC7 reported. Under a new law authored by Berman, election officials now have 13 days after Election Day to process ballots, down from the previous 30-day window, as Berman acknowledged that more could be done to bring down the counting time, but that doesn't mean there's fraud.