Donald Trump accuses California's mail in voting system to be rigged

Question

On Election Day, President Donald Trump repeated claims of election fraud, this time accusing California’s mail-in voting system of being “rigged.” He said the state’s special election and its redistricting measure, Proposition 50, were part of a “giant scam.” This continues his pattern of questioning elections run by Democrats. In California, every registered voter automatically gets a mail ballot, and the state uses signature checks, tracking barcodes, and audits to verify every vote.

The White House supported Trump’s claims, but Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offered no evidence when asked for examples of fraud. She insisted the allegations were “just a fact” and said the administration is considering an executive order that would change election rules. California officials, however, maintain their system is secure and used by voters from all political parties.

Trump’s comments are part of a larger national push by Republicans to limit mail-in voting. Since 2020, several GOP-led states like Georgia, Texas, and Florida have passed laws making it harder to vote by mail by tightening rules, limiting drop boxes, and adding new ID or signature requirements.

Answer 1

The claim that Trump called California's mail-in voting option, and voting system rigged is true. However it is not true, and there is no evidence that Californias's voting system is rigged. This claim comes from Democracy Docket, which is relatively left-leaning, but still shares mostly reliable information. 

This claim can be backed up by PBS who said, "As Election Day voting was underway Tuesday, President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that California’s vote on new Democratic-backed congressional maps and the voting process itself was 'rigged.'"

Link: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-claims-on-mail-in-voting-in-california

This claim can also be backed up by CNN,

Here’s a fact check of six of Trump’s assertions.

"'…they [California] have mail-in voting, which is totally rigged.' It simply isn’t. Mail-in voting is a legitimate method used by legitimate voters to cast legitimate ballots. Elections experts say the incidence of fraud tends to be marginally higher with mail-in ballots than with in-person ballots – but also that fraud rates in federal elections are tiny even with mail-in ballots."

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/13/politics/fact-check-california-elections-trump

Answer 2

This claim is very true. Donald trump and the White House have been trying to push the agenda that the State of California has been "rigging" or "framing" the presidential election. On Election Day president Trump again claimed, without providing any evidence, that California's mail ballot voting system has been a "giant scam". When press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed the concern of California she stated "There's countless examples and we'd be happy to provide them". Although she stated they had evidence, when a reporter asked what examples the White House had, she said "Its just a fact". So although it is true that president trump said those things about the state of California, there is no evidence of California rigging the election. 

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-pushes-baseless-claims-of-rigged-california-election-promises-criminal-review-of-mail-ballots/

Answer 3

Using the SIFT method, I looked into the claim that Donald Trump called California’s mail-in voting system “rigged” and said Proposition 50 was part of a scam. The story was reported by Democracy Docket, which is a site that focuses heavily on voting rights and election challenges, so it’s important to recognize that they have a specific focus and angle on these issues. To find better coverage, I checked information from more neutral election-administration sources, like the California Secretary of State’s office and nonpartisan election-explanation outlets, which describe how California verifies mail ballots through things like signature checks, tracking systems, and routine audits. When I traced the claim back to its original context, state officials responsible for running elections consistently reported that there wasn’t evidence of widespread fraud and that these security procedures are used across counties. So after going through the SIFT steps, the claim doesn’t hold up, since the original sources involved in running the election show the system is built with multiple safeguards and there’s nothing confirming the election was “rigged.”

Comments

Don't forget to cross-check sources and not rely on the one provided within the claim (Democracy Docket). Thanks!