CHAOS - LA Mayor's Race Takes Turn After Video from Ballot Counting Facility LEAKS
Los Angeles, California - June 5, 2026
Slow Ballot Counting Continues in Los Angeles County as Hundreds of Thousands of Votes Remain Unprocessed
Los Angeles County election officials reported that only 77,521 additional ballots had been processed since the June 2 primary election as of Wednesday night. An estimated 713,180 ballots remain unprocessed, according to county announcements. The pace of counting has drawn scrutiny as several races, including the Los Angeles mayoral contest, remain unresolved.
Reporters from the New York Post visited the county’s 144,000-square-foot ballot processing facility on Thursday and observed numerous vacant workstations. Rows of empty chairs were visible in multiple sections of the warehouse. In one area where election workers review ballots that scanners cannot automatically process, approximately 25 bins of ballots sat ready, but no employees were seated at nearby desks.
In a separate section where workers prepare ballots for counting and open envelopes, roughly 75 employees were present, although the space appeared capable of accommodating more than twice that number. When asked about the empty workstations despite the large backlog, one election center staff member told the reporters not to be “fooled by what you see” but offered no further explanation.
Calls for Accelerated Counting
Steve Hilton, a frontrunner in the California gubernatorial race, stated Thursday that he would urge Governor Gavin Newsom to establish an Emergency Election Count Accelerator Corps. The proposed initiative would mobilize additional state personnel and rapid response teams to assist counties facing significant backlogs, while adhering to existing election laws and security procedures.
“California is the laughing stock of the nation when it comes to election reporting. We are the fourth-largest economy in the world, home to Silicon Valley and some of the most advanced technology on earth, yet government bureaucrats need a month to count fewer than 10 million ballots,” Hilton said.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office operates with a budget of nearly $336 million annually and maintains more than 1,100 budgeted positions. Dean Logan, who heads the department, earns an annual salary of $448,179 according to county records. Los Angeles County has more than 5.8 million registered voters.
Statements from Political Figures
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social criticizing the pace of counting in California. He accused Democrats of attempting to influence the outcomes of the governor’s primary and the Los Angeles mayoral primary through late and large numbers of mail-in ballots.
Newsom’s office responded on X by sharing an explainer video from CNN and stating that there is misinformation about California’s election process. The post added, “And yes, for the record: we wish the votes were counted faster, too.”
Comparison to Other States
Several other states that held elections on the same day have completed or nearly completed their counts. New Jersey has reported approximately 93 percent of ballots counted, while New Mexico and Montana are approaching 98 percent.
Los Angeles County officials have indicated that another update on ballot processing is expected Thursday evening. With more than 700,000 ballots still outstanding, experts have stated that it could take additional weeks before final results are known in several closely contested races, including the mayoral contest where no candidate reached the threshold for an outright win.
The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office has not yet provided detailed responses to questions about current staffing levels for ballot processing or plans to address vacancies at workstations.
A powerful district attorney came to my house before dawn with a baseball bat and a sheriff carrying a fake warrant.
Daniel Brooks stepped through my broken doorway like a man who believed the law belonged to him.
Rain dripped from his suit.
A baseball bat hung from his right hand.
Behind him stood Sheriff Walker, broad shoulders filling the doorway, one palm resting near his belt as if intimidation were part of his uniform.
“Give me my son,” Daniel said.
Ethan shook so hard in my arms the blanket slipped from one shoulder.
I pulled it back around him and held him tighter against my cardigan.
His face was bruised.
One eye swollen.
Mud dried along his jaw where he had fallen running through the woods behind my house.
When Daniel’s voice hit the room, Ethan buried his face against me.
“Grandma,” he whispered. “Don’t let him take me.”
I felt the old part of myself wake fully.
Not the grandmother.
Not the widow.
The colonel.
The woman who had once sat in windowless rooms listening to men lie while entire operations depended on noticing which finger twitched first.
Daniel raised the bat slightly.
Sheriff Walker glanced at Ethan’s face.
For the first time, his confidence flickered.
Good.
He had not expected the boy to look that damaged under lamplight.
I kept my voice quiet.
“A warrant at three-thirty in the morning. You boys got sloppy.”
Daniel froze mid-step.
Sheriff Walker’s eyes moved to my covered hand beneath the knitting blanket.
A faint metallic click cut through the rain and police lights.
Daniel heard it.
His rage drained by a fraction.
“Evelyn,” he said, forcing calm. “You’re confused. Ethan ran away. I’m here to bring him home.”
Ethan made a small broken sound.
I looked at Daniel.
“No. You’re here because he saw the rug.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened.
Sheriff Walker stopped breathing for half a second.
That was enough.
I rose halfway from my chair with Ethan still tucked against one side of me.
My hidden hand stayed beneath the blanket.
“Come closer, Daniel.”
He did not.
For the first time since entering my house, the district attorney understood he was not standing in front of an old woman.
He was standing inside a trap he had helped build with his own arrogance.
