In June 1994, the biggest story out of California was O.J. Simpson’s low-speed white Ford Bronco chase.
Simpson would eventually be arrested and tried in the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Despite the ample physical evidence of his guilt, a jury acquitted him. Simpson later wrote a book titled “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer.”
This came to mind as I watched the biggest story out of California in June 2026. Right after Election Day, it looked as if Spencer Pratt would finish in second place in the Los Angeles mayor’s race. Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass was in first, but the outsider Pratt was well ahead of L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman. On election night, she even gave what sounded like a concession speech.
What a difference a week of counting ballots makes. Raman is now projected to finish second, preventing Pratt from being on the ballot in November. It does look like Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton will remain in second and advance to the general election.
In an interview with “Meet the Press,” President Donald Trump called what’s happening in California “a rigged election.” Interviewer Kristen Welker responded, “That’s how they count the votes in California.”
It’s amazing how uncurious the propaganda press is when their preferred candidates are winning.
So, like O.J., it’s time to explore how fraud could happen. Consider this an excerpt from “If California did it: Confessions of an election fraudster.”
The first thing a fraudster needs is access to ballots. Helpfully, California sends out ballots to every registered voter, a list that includes many bad addresses. On X, people have described getting ballots despite having moved away years ago. California fights efforts to clean up its voter rolls.
In theory, signature verification is supposed to verify that a voter filled out his or her ballot. But signature verification is fundamentally flawed. Signatures aren’t a unique identifying marker such as a fingerprint. In California, someone can even “sign” a ballot with an “X” or dot. Another person can sign that they witnessed the “voter’s” signature. But reporting suggests the witness signature isn’t verified at all. Of course, ballot harvesting is legal in California. It’s a free-for-all for fraudsters.
But sometimes you’ll still guess wrong about how many ballots you’ll need to stuff in those ballot boxes. California has you covered. Officials will accept a mail ballot without a legible postmark if “the voter has dated the vote-by-mail ballot identification envelope.” What’s especially convenient is that election officials will accept mail ballots up to seven days after Election Day.
There’s not even time to detail how new voters can register without providing a California driver’s license or Social Security number. California doesn’t require photo ID to vote either.
Finally, you would see big shifts toward Democrats in the ballots counted after Election Day. In the L.A. mayor’s race, the votes wouldn’t just favor the leading Democrat. They would have to benefit the Democrat who needed more votes to end up in second place. And that’s exactly what happened.
California has willfully created the conditions that lead critics to question the integrity of their elections. Is it any wonder that many Republicans believe the best explanation for this seems obvious? If California did it, of course.
Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow
@victorjoecks on X.
