What the DOJ’s investigation into Los Angeles elections is really about

I am a native Angeleno. I have lived here my entire life. It truly is the city of make-believe. 

Los Angeles is, of course, home to Hollywood, Tinseltown, the storied entertainment capital of the world, where we make up all sorts of fake stories that entertain the world.

But now a new story of apparent make-believe has emerged from Los Angeles — that of voter fraud. And this story is unlikely to win any awards. 

President Donald Trump has made unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud related to California’s June 2 primary elections. This is nothing new and follows years of baseless claims of voter fraud by Trump, which ultimately culminated in the events of Jan. 6, 2021. 

What has changed is the Justice Department’s enthusiasm for jumping into the thicket of elections. Recently, the Department of Justice has brought suits, unsuccessfully asked for data regarding voter rolls and even sought to inspect ballots. Taken together, this is a rare demonstration of the DOJ’s desire to get involved with elections and, frankly, to use that agency’s levers of power to back up the president’s attempts at undermining the credibility of elections. 

Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor recently assured listeners of a radio program that charges for election fraud will be forthcoming. This is happening despite DOJ regulations indicating that the department should stay out of criminal investigations until elections are certified, as well as the apparent lack of specific evidence of election fraud. 

It is worth noting here that it does, in fact, take a long time to count ballots in California. But that’s actually evidence of the integrity of the process. The majority of us vote by mail; it takes longer to count and verify those ballots. Given the state’s current system, calling elections on or shortly after election night could be actual evidence of possible fraud. 

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Have the shapes of the races in Los Angeles and California changed since election night, during the long process of counting ballots? Absolutely. That’s what happens when you count votes.