US attorney opens election fraud investigations in California, sends prosecutor to LA center

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles opened multiple election-fraud investigations and sent a prosecutor to the county’s vote-counting center, putting federal scrutiny inside a process that California law says can continue for weeks after Election Day.

The move came one day after President Donald Trump made baseless claims of mass fraud in California’s drawn-out count from the June 2 primary. Under state rules, vote-by-mail ballots had to be postmarked by June 2 and received by June 9. County elections officials then have until July 2 to finish the official canvass, with the California Secretary of State set to certify the results on July 10.

Los Angeles County’s count was still moving through that process. As of June 4, county results showed 1,477,473 ballots counted, or 25.08% of the county’s 5,891,851 registered voters. The county says all publicly observable election-related activity is occurring at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center in City of Industry, where observers are allowed but may not intimidate voters or challenge anyone inside or within 100 feet of a vote center.

The federal district involved is the Central District of California, which covers seven counties, including Los Angeles, and serves nearly 20 million people, making it the largest federal judicial district in the country. Bill Essayli, the district’s top federal prosecutor, was sworn in as U.S. attorney on April 2, 2025, after being appointed by Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

The election fight comes as California officials have been warning about interference after recent incidents in Los Angeles County involving ballots found burned in an official drop box and a vandalized vote center. County officials said those incidents appeared isolated and involved only a small number of ballots.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed election-protection legislation on May 27, aimed at strengthening safeguards before the primary amid concerns about interference, intimidation and unauthorized law enforcement activity. Against that backdrop, election-law experts have described the federal investigation announcement as “noise” and said voter fraud remains extremely rare in California and across the country, even as prosecutors seek to show they are watching the count closely.