The Department of Justice has opened investigations into potential election fraud in California as officials continue counting ballots from this week’s primary elections.
Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, announced the probes on Friday. His office is working with the FBI to examine possible violations of federal election law and plans to audit the state’s voter rolls. President Donald Trump accused California Democrats of attempting to steal elections, citing the extended vote-counting process. Two major races remain unresolved: the gubernatorial contest and the Los Angeles mayoral race. In the gubernatorial primary, Democrat Xavier Becerra leads with 26.78 percent of the vote after 68 percent of ballots were counted as of Saturday morning. Republican Steve Hilton trails closely at 26.35 percent. Incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has 35 percent in her race with 71 percent of votes tallied, ahead of Republican Spencer Pratt at 28.2 percent.
