CHAOS - LA Mayor's Race Takes Turn After Video from Ballot Counting Facility LEAKS
Los Angeles, California - June 12, 2026
Los Angeles Ballot Processing Facility Shows Limited Staffing Amid Ongoing Count
A visit to the Los Angeles County ballot processing facility revealed numerous vacant workstations and understaffed areas as officials continued processing hundreds of thousands of ballots from the June 2 primary election. The 144,000-square-foot center operates under the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office, which receives an annual budget of approximately $336 million.
Reporters observed dozens of empty chairs and desks across multiple sections. In areas designated for manual review of ballots that scanners could not process, approximately 25 bins of ballots sat ready while nearby workstations had no employees present. In another section responsible for opening envelopes and preparing ballots for scanning, roughly 75 workers were active, although the space could accommodate more than twice that number.
County officials announced Wednesday that 77,521 additional ballots had been processed since election night. An estimated 713,180 ballots remained outstanding at that time. The pace of counting has continued at a measured rate in the days since.
Budget and Leadership Scrutiny
The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office manages elections for more than 5.8 million registered voters. The department has more than 1,100 budgeted positions, according to county records. Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan oversees the department and earns $448,179 annually.
When asked about the appearance of understaffing despite the backlog, one election center staff member told reporters not to be “fooled by what you see” but offered no further explanation.
Political Reactions
California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton called for the creation of an Emergency Election Count Accelerator Corps to provide additional personnel and resources to counties facing ballot-counting backlogs. He criticized the pace of results in the state.
“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.
President Donald Trump posted on social media criticizing the slow counting process and accusing Democrats of attempting to influence outcomes in the Los Angeles mayoral and gubernatorial primaries through the volume and timing of mail-in ballots.
“There is a lot of misinformation floating around about California’s election — including from the President,” the office of Governor Gavin Newsom responded, while sharing an explainer video from CNN. The statement added that officials also wish the votes were counted faster.
Context and Comparisons
Los Angeles County has more than 5.8 million registered voters. Several other states that held elections on the same day have reported much higher percentages of ballots counted within a shorter timeframe. New Jersey has reported roughly 93 percent, while New Mexico and Montana are approaching 98 percent.
The next update on Los Angeles County ballot counts is expected Thursday evening. With more than 700,000 ballots still outstanding, officials and observers have indicated that it could take weeks before final results are known in some races, including the Los Angeles mayoral contest and the gubernatorial primary.
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The observations at the processing facility have added to ongoing scrutiny of election administration in California’s largest county and have prompted calls for faster processing while maintaining required verification procedures.
