By Flor Blanco, Photo by Sora Shimazaki
June 22, 2026, COMMENTARY–The June 2026 Los Angeles mayoral primary played out in a pattern that has become all too familiar to California voters. Early returns on election night showed Spencer Pratt in a strong position for second place. However, as mail in and provisional ballots were counted over several days, progressive City Councilmember Nithya Raman overtook him. Pratt ultimately finished with approximately 25.8 percent of the vote.
Pratt responded by taking to social media, declaring war on the corrupt machine and promising damaging evidence against one of the advancing candidates. President Trump amplified claims of fraud, generating significant media attention. Yet days later, Pratt stated that the campaign portion of his mission was coming to a close. He filed no formal legal challenge. This sequence, dramatic late shifts in results, public outrage, bold promises, followed by acceptance and fading momentum, has repeated across multiple election cycles, including the 2021 Newsom recall and the 2020 general election.
Attempts to Move the Needle in CA Elections
In a brief interview with James Bradley, he described his experience with attempts to combat the quagmire of CA elections. For more than twenty years, the Election Integrity Project California has operated as a nonpartisan organization dedicated to monitoring and documenting the state’s election processes. The group has compiled extensive evidence, including hundreds of sworn affidavits from poll observers and ballot monitors citing serious chain of custody failures and procedural violations. In 2020, EIPCA co led a major federal lawsuit with James Bradley and other candidates. The suit challenged California’s election laws and procedures, arguing they systematically diluted legally cast ballots. After two years of litigation that reached the Ninth Circuit, the case was dismissed as containing garden variety election irregularities. Much of the evidence was never examined on the merits in court.
During that period, activists pushing for reform often received little support from California Republican leadership. At a party conference in San Diego, Harmeet Dhillon and Shawn Steel were directly questioned about the 2020 election. According to James Bradley, Dhillon remained largely silent while Steel labeled Bradley and the other plaintiffs as election denier extremists. Today, Harmeet Dhillon serves as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division in the Trump administration. Working with First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in Los Angeles, she is leading efforts to audit California’s voter rolls.
These actions have generated considerable media attention, though questions remain about whether they will produce meaningful structural reform. Even if ineligible voters are removed, the system is built to replenish itself. California’s Motor Voter law automatically registers nearly everyone who applies for or renews a driver’s license, relying on self-attestation of citizenship with minimal verification. There is no voter ID requirement, and signature verification standards vary significantly. Strict standards were used during the Newsom recall petition process, while rejection rates in regular elections have been reported as low as 0.77% in Los Angeles County.
CA US Senator Padilla’s Stance on CA Elections
Senator Alex Padilla, who served as California Secretary of State from 2015 to 2021, played a central role in shaping the state’s current election framework. During his tenure, California expanded universal mail in voting, legalized ballot harvesting, and implemented automatic voter registration. As a U.S. Senator, Padilla has been a leading opponent of the SAVE Act, which seeks to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Is CA Still a Republic?
CA election policies have helped create what critics describe as a self-reinforcing system. Los Angeles City Council recently voted to place a measure on the November ballot that would allow non-citizens to vote in city and school board elections. Billions of taxpayer dollars continue flowing to NGOs for homelessness programs and services for undocumented immigrants, yet visible homelessness on the streets persists.
Meanwhile, working families are struggling under rising costs. Los Angeles County’s sales tax is increasing to 10.25%, the state gas tax rose again on July 1, 2026, and the median home price in Orange County now exceeds 1.25 million dollars. Many families earning around 100,000 dollars annually are now classified as low income for housing assistance programs. The public anger during each election cycle is genuine.
The burning question is, does CA’s electoral system still operate to support a republic-form of government? Ben Franklin’s famous warning, “…a republic, if we can keep it,” hinted at how critical it is to ensure that government represented the needs of the voting public. However, CA election challenges appear to be consistently followed by acceptance, with little to no structural change in how elections are conducted.
As long as this cycle continues, meaningful reform appears unlikely, while the economic and social pressures on California residents continue to mount.