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.
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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.
