Tuesday, 28 July 2026, 6:38
President Donald Trump used a primetime address on July 16, 2026, to launch a broad attack on California's election systems, repeating debunked claims of widespread fraud and foreign interference. The speech drew immediate condemnation from California's top elected officials, who accused the president of trying to suppress turnout and sow distrust before the November midterms.
During the address, Trump alleged that the Department of Homeland Security had identified 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote across four states, including California. He also claimed that mail-in ballots are “inherently corrupt” and questioned why it took over a month to certify California's June 2 primary results. Trump asserted that China had compromised 220 million U.S. voter files, though intelligence assessments have previously found no evidence of such a breach affecting election outcomes. He also announced the release of “critical intelligence” that he claimed will show China’s alleged “election meddling” and proof that Americans have been “lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot counting systems.” Trump also discussed the Los Angeles mayoral election, raising concerns about how long it took to count the votes. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk certified the results for the primary election on June 26. “I wonder what they were doing,” Trump said.
However, election experts said there was very little new information revealed in the president’s speech. “The White House promised a bombshell, and they delivered a dud,” David Becker, the executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonpartisan nonprofit, said in a July 17 press conference. “There was absolutely nothing here that was news, nothing here that even calls into question past elections and certainly not the 2020 election.” Trump’s own Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency concluded in 2020 that the election that year “was the most secure in American history,” a line the president mocked in his speech.
Trump distorted the facts on several issues. He said the documents he released show that China had acquired “220 million U.S. voter files” starting in the 2020 election cycle, and that this had been kept “secret” by U.S. intelligence officials. But state voter files are mostly publicly available, and an April 2020 intelligence assessment said Chinese officials were analyzing state voter rolls. His use of the word “compromise” implies China was able to change the data, but he presented no evidence of that. One of the documents Trump cited said the election systems, for several reasons, “would be difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to alter the election outcome.” An adviser to the president said after the speech: “The Intelligence Community has zero evidence that someone, that a foreign power flipped a vote in 2020, ’22 or ’24.”
Trump claimed that a Department of Homeland Security investigation “identified approximately 278,000 noncitizens who are registered to vote in federal elections.” DHS hasn’t explained its methodology, and experts warn the figure is likely highly inaccurate. Past DHS-derived lists have proven unreliable. He cited an alleged instance of fraud from 2020 involving fake voter-registration applications in Michigan. Authorities say no one actually voted improperly as a result of the alleged scam, which stemmed from employees of a voter-registration company trying to defraud their employer and was not a deliberate effort to alter votes.
Trump said that Congress needed to pass the SAVE America Act, describing its voter ID requirements as “simple.” That’s a matter of opinion. The bill’s ID rules would be stricter than those in most of the 36 states that already have a form of voter ID.
In a related development, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters to election officials in California and other states, threatening criminal prosecution if they do not comply with DHS demands to purge noncitizens from voter rolls. Mullin warned that failure to act could result in jail time for election officials, escalating the confrontation between the Trump administration and state election authorities.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber called the president's remarks disrespectful to voters and election officials, stating that California maintains accurate voter rolls and that fraud is extremely rare. Governor Gavin Newsom described the speech as “the ramblings of a mad king” and called for the 25th Amendment. Xavier Becerra, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said Trump's goal is to “intimidate and silence voters.” Attorney General Rob Bonta warned that the attacks are dangerous, while Senator Alex Padilla, a former Secretary of State, emphasized that California's elections are safe and secure. Newsom also said on X that the president’s address was not about the last election: “Before a single vote has been cast, he’s already laying the groundwork to rig this election and convince YOU not to trust the results if they don’t go his way. This is what authoritarians do. Don’t fall for it.” Becerra added that Trump “will always try to sabotage an election he fears losing” and that the November election “will be no different.” Becerra also said on X: “If Donald Trump crosses that line, today — and tomorrow as your Governor – we will respond. California will leverage every tool at its disposal — in the courts, at the ballot box, and organizations in every community across this state — to drive turnout, protect every voter’s right to cast their ballot, and ensure every one of those ballots is counted. Every voter. Every ballot. Every time.” Padilla noted that as Secretary of State during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, he “oversaw safe and secure elections with record voter participation — the sign of a strong democracy.” Bonta said the president’s address “came as a desperate attempt to throw anything and everything at the wall in order to get his voter fraud theories to stick.”
In response to Mullin's threats, Newsom wrote on X: “Try us. California has free, fair, and secure elections. We will fight for them.” Newsom’s office said the state had “no idea” where the claim of 190,832 possible noncitizen registrants came from. Padilla questioned DHS’s methods and said the administration’s allegations were “built on sham numbers that no one should trust.” He added: “DHS’s lack of transparency also raises serious questions about whether it violated state law to obtain California’s voter registration records and federal privacy law and court rulings barring misuse of federal databases.”
Trump's claims about noncitizen voting ignore that federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. While California allows noncitizens to vote in some local school board elections (e.g., San Francisco and Oakland), those measures do not apply to state or federal races. A 2021 intelligence assessment concluded with high confidence that China did not execute any operation to change the outcome of the 2020 election. Additionally, a federal judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit seeking access to California's voter rolls earlier this year.
The history of such claims offers a cautionary tale. Thirty years ago, Orange County Rep. Bob Dornan refused to accept his 1996 loss to Loretta Sanchez, alleging that illegal immigrants had voted for her. A congressional investigation concluded in 1998 that while some noncitizens did vote, the number was infinitesimal — less than 1% of the total votes — and not enough to overturn the results. No one was charged for illegally voting on purpose. When Dornan ran again in 1998, Sanchez walloped him, and he was swept into political history. The episode is now taught as a case study in the dangers of demagoguery, yet the idea that illegal immigrants regularly vote has become gospel for many Republicans.
Today, a similar dynamic is playing out. In California, a “clown car of MAGA loyalists” — including Assemblymember Carl DeMaio, state Sen. Tony Strickland, and wannabe U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli — are pushing Proposition 39, which would require election officials to verify citizenship and mandate voter ID. Despite Trump’s claims of 278,000 noncitizen registrants, actual instances of noncitizens casting ballots remain as rare as in Dornan’s time. The push for voter ID is seen by critics as a modern-day voter suppression tactic, echoing the segregationist South.
The attack on California's election processes comes as the state prepares for competitive midterm races, including the gubernatorial election. California has the nation's largest electorate, and its vote-by-mail system—which Trump himself has used—has been repeatedly upheld by courts. Officials stressed that taking up to 30 days to count ballots ensures accuracy, not fraud. The California Secretary of State certified the results of the primary election on July 10, and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk certified the results for the primary election on June 26. The secretary of state’s office explained that vote-by-mail ballots dropped off on Election Day or postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days after the election contribute to the counting timeline. “Accuracy comes before speed,” said Secretary Weber in a statement in June. “California is the nation’s largest voting state, with millions of ballots to process and count. Taking the time to do this work correctly protects voters’ rights and ensures the integrity of our elections.”
Nevada was also named among the four states where DHS alleges noncitizens are illegally registered to vote. Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar issued a statement calling the claims unfounded and accusing Trump of attempting to undermine confidence in Nevada’s elections ahead of the midterms. “Nevada voters deserve facts, not fear,” Aguilar said. “The President has spent the better part of a decade attempting to manufacture a crisis around voting when there is none.” Aguilar cited several steps his office has taken to secure elections, including implementing a new statewide voter registration and election management system, deploying voting machines that allow in-person voters to print and review ballots before submission, and modernizing systems to allow the public to view ballot status in real time. “There are numerous protections in place to prevent noncitizens, and anyone ineligible, from casting a ballot,” Aguilar said. “Any claims of election fraud are taken seriously and investigated by our office, but there is no evidence of widespread fraud.” He also cited a Heritage Foundation investigation that found only 11 instances of alleged voter fraud in Nevada over a 10-year period. Aguilar addressed cybersecurity, noting that Nevada’s election systems remained secure during one of the worst cyberattacks on a state government system in the state’s history. He criticized the Trump administration for cutting funding for cybersecurity and election administration at the state level, noting that Trump’s new budget proposes a $707 million cut to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
According to declassified White House documents, DHS claims that more than 15,000 noncitizens are illegally registered to vote in Nevada alone. Nevada leaders have pushed back on these claims, emphasizing that the state has numerous safeguards in place to prevent noncitizen voting and that the figures are likely inaccurate.
The White House documents identified the four states as California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada. The document stated that “over 250,000 non-citizens are illegally registered to vote in just the four states for which public data files have been reviewed” and that state election officials in all four states have been notified. It added that DHS stands ready to support efforts to identify and remove ineligible registrants and that the investigation is expanding to include additional states. However, the document does not provide any state-specific breakdown of the 250,000 figure. Aguilar said the DHS figures are not based on any data his office has seen and pushed back on the scope of the claim. “Non-citizens are not participating in Nevada’s elections,” Aguilar said. “They are not swinging our elections one way or the other.” He also noted that the Heritage Foundation investigation found only 11 instances of alleged voter fraud in Nevada over a 10-year period. “The fact that they said they had this information, I don’t know how they got it, where they got it,” Aguilar said.
Trump’s address did not produce evidence that votes had been manipulated or that any election outcome had been altered, according to the Associated Press. Repeated audits and reviews — many conducted by Republicans, including Trump’s own then-attorney general — found no significant fraud occurred in 2020.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) confirmed that a software error affecting the state’s motor vehicle department in 2023 and 2024 led to the voter registration of about 6,600 people who indicated they were not U.S. citizens. Sherrill said she was “appalled” by the “reckless failures that allowed this to happen,” but she shrugged off Trump’s alarm as she stressed that officials were taking every step to protect election integrity. “As the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections,” she said. “The difference is simple: When we find a problem, we don’t hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies. We investigate it, we fix it, and we tell the public.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said in a statement on Trump’s remarks: “Michigan elections are safe and secure — any suggestion otherwise is designed to undermine our voters’ basic rights.” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), who is a candidate for governor, stressed that some 1,600 bipartisan professional election administrators and thousands of trained poll workers monitor each election, and that results are checked by dozens of audits. She bashed Trump for trying to “rehash long debunked and baseless conspiracy theories about an election he lost almost six years ago.”
Election experts and officials across the targeted states have hit back sharply against Trump’s accusations, defending their election systems and seeking to reassure voters just 100 days out from the high-stakes midterms. “The best way that we’ve seen to combat Trump’s election lies is for local election officials to explain in a clear way directly to voters what’s going on, to point out the measures that assure that elections are secure, that the processes are transparent,” said Rick Hasen, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles Law School who runs the Election Law Blog. “I don’t think any of them should be caught up in all the noise.”
Trump’s remarks have frustrated some Republicans who want to move past the 2020 election. “I think it will end up being a huge distraction for Republicans who are trying to win tight races in November, and maybe no better example than here in Michigan, where we’re front and center in this latest round of allegations from the president,” David Dulio, a political science professor at Oakland University, said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin escalated the confrontation on July 17, warning that election officials who do not comply with administration directives to enhance security of voting machines and to share voter data with the federal government through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program would be subject to fines and even prison time. “If the states that choose not to participate with the SAVE program and they choose not to participate in securing the elections, we will make sure that we make those states a priority to look at who voted in their states, and hold the election officials accountable,” Mullin said during a press conference. California and Oregon are among the states that have so far declined to obey the administration's demands.
The Trump administration will make it mandatory for states to undergo security enhancements of their voting machines and withhold grants or reimbursements to any states that do not, Mullin said. The mandate was necessary, he said, because foreign adversaries produce parts that are vital pieces in U.S. voting machines, and can “change voter registration and your vote.” “The machines have to be secured and your voter registration list needs to be scrubbed,” he said, summarizing the department’s message to state officials. “Our machines are vulnerable. There are steps that can be made right now that can secure those.”
Earlier Friday, Mullin sent a letter to the secretaries of state of the four states the department reviewed — Nevada, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — to warn them of the “tens of thousands of non-citizens who are illegally on the states’ voter rolls.” Leaders from those states immediately pushed back. It is unclear what authority Mullin would use to investigate state election administration. The U.S. Constitution empowers states to run elections. But it is clear the Trump administration considers election security a top priority in the leadup to the midterms.
Mullin on Friday said the Homeland Security Department reviewed voter rolls in a handful of states and discovered more than 250,000 noncitizens who were registered to vote. The federal government will make it a priority to “look at who voted in their states” and hold their election officials accountable, Mullin said. The federal government will go through the records “one by one,” he said at the press conference, and pursue maximum charges for anyone found to have voted illegally, which includes up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Mullin also provided a state-specific breakdown, claiming “as many as” 190,832 possible noncitizens registered to vote in California. The administration has not made its methodology public, and the system Mullin’s department has used to check for noncitizens in the past has inaccurately flagged some citizens as noncitizens. Past election reviews have found noncitizen voting is rare.
The SAVE program allows local jurisdictions to determine someone’s immigration status for purposes such as applying for government jobs, benefits and driver’s licenses. The administration wants states to use the powerful computer system to check the citizenship of people on voter rolls and is battling in court to restore that use of the program after a federal court ruled in June the expansion was unlawful. Mullin blamed the program’s pause on “activist judges” who don’t want secure elections. The SAVE program is distinct from, but shares its acronym with, the SAVE America Act, a bill that proposes to restrict voter access by adding requirements to register and cast ballots, including photo IDs. The bill is stalled in the U.S. Senate and does not include funding for election security infrastructure.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber responded to Mullin’s letter, describing the claims as fallacious and unsubstantiated. “Non-citizen voting remains exceedingly rare,” she said. “In California, election officials work every day to maintain accurate voter rolls and ensure that only eligible voters are registered.” She said her team will carefully review Mullin’s letter to assess the methodology for its claims, and “welcome legitimate best practices that comply with state and federal law while protecting Californians’ personal information.” “However, the information provided during the President’s remarks and on the White House website, do not inspire any level of confidence in the methodology used or the conclusions reached,” she added. “If the President is truly committed to election integrity, he must stop undermining confidence in our democracy, making it harder for eligible Americans to vote, and attempting to seize authority that the Constitution clearly reserves for the states.”
Some Republican senators expressed unease with Trump’s focus on past elections. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Friday that he did not understand why Trump is focusing on a past election when Republicans should focus on what is ahead. “I think historically the midterms for the party in power are really tough,” Cornyn said. “So, yeah, I am concerned about it. We ought to be talking about things looking forward that our constituents are most concerned about.” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said the nation’s electoral systems are safe, and while he thinks election officials need to be “vigilant,” he said he is more concerned about economic issues ahead of the midterms. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said it would be “impossible” to pass the SAVE America Act.
Southern California members of Congress also weighed in on Trump’s speech and the broader issues of election integrity and mail-in voting. Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) said: “The president can keep repeating the same false claims about our elections, but the facts haven’t changed, our elections are secure, and Americans deserve leaders who respect both the truth and their constitutional right to vote. Instead of trying to change the rules because the president knows the American people are frustrated with rising costs, attacks on our freedoms, and billions being spent on conflicts overseas instead of investing in our communities, this administration should focus on the challenges families face every day. The American people, not politicians, decide our elections. No amount of misinformation or voter suppression will change that. We should be supporting our local election officials as they make sure every eligible American can vote no matter their net worth or party and that every lawful ballot is counted, because our democracy is strongest when every voice is heard.”
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona) took a different view, citing the narrow defeat of Republican Congressman John Duarte by just 187 votes in the last election. “When you have razor-thin elections it does not take a significant amount of fraud to change the outcome. Just this week we learned that hundreds of non-citizens have illegally cast ballots in blue states like New Jersey, and thousands more are improperly registered to vote. That’s why I have worked to get voter ID on the ballot here in California. We can enhance the security of elections by passing Prop. 39 this fall and putting a commonsense voter ID requirement in place here in California. Prop. 39 also enhances the vote-by-mail process by requiring voters to put on the return envelope the last four digits of the same government-issued ID that they have on file with their voter registration. These are simple steps that are successfully being used in other states, that improve the integrity of our elections and give voters more confidence in the outcomes.”
Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine) emphasized that Trump’s claims have been repeatedly debunked. “The facts are clear. Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud have been repeatedly and definitively debunked by Republican and Democratic election officials, national security leaders and dozens of courts — including ones with judges he has appointed. His campaign filed more than 60 lawsuits challenging the 2020 election and failed to produce evidence sufficient to overturn the results. Federal election security officials called the 2020 election ‘the most secure in American history,’ which includes voting by mail. It is also interesting that Trump claims that the 2020 election, which occurred while he was president, was rigged, while accepting the results of the 2016 and 2024 elections, when he was not president. Finally, it is worth noting that there has been zero evidence of any mass vote-by-mail fraud. And the SAVE Act that Donald Trump is pushing so hard would in fact make it difficult for anyone who does not have a passport or birth certificate handy to vote, especially married women or others who might have changed their names. What Trump is doing right now is straight out of the authoritarian playbook: Claim voting is rigged so he can try to take control of our elections and end free and fair elections. This is a defining moment. Every elected official, regardless of party, should reject these lies unequivocally. History will remember who defended our democracy and who stood by while it was under attack.”
Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills) said: “Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy. Americans deserve basic confidence that every legal vote is counted and that our elections are secure. That confidence is undermined when election safeguards are ignored. That’s why Americans overwhelmingly support voter ID, a simple standard we already require to board a plane, purchase alcohol or pick up a prescription. This isn’t controversial, and it shouldn’t be partisan. Our elections deserve at least as much consideration as a bottle of beer.”
On July 24, 2026, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with oversight over federal elections and California’s former Secretary of State, introduced the Stop Harassment and Intimidations in Elections through Legal Defenses (SHIELD) Our Elections Act. The legislation would provide State Attorneys General and voters with a private right of action to enforce federal anti-election interference laws and extend the statute of limitations for bringing federal criminal prosecutions for violations of those laws from five to nine years. Following the seizure of ballots in Riverside County, Calif. and Fulton County, Ga., the bill also further protects ballots from seizure — especially prior to an election being finally settled.
“Donald Trump has said he regrets not sending federal forces to seize election equipment in 2020 and he has made clear he’ll do whatever it takes to put his thumb on the scale of future elections — even if it means intimidating voters, persecuting election officials, or abusing federal power,” said Senator Padilla. “Trump’s cabinet refuses to rule out sending federal forces to the polls, so we can’t wait until after the damage is done to act. Our elections belong to the voters, and I am fighting to protect every eligible voter’s right to cast a ballot freely and sending a warning that anyone who interferes with our democracy will be held accountable — sooner or later.”
The SHIELD Our Elections Act creates a private right to action for State Attorneys General and voters to enforce federal anti-interference laws protecting polling locations and election sites, extends the statute of limitations for election related crimes so that future administrations can enforce them, restricts the seizure of ballots and election equipment from election officials, especially prior to the final resolution of election outcomes, and authorizes a voluntary grant program to support states who have mail and absentee ballot tracking programs to provide confidence and security for voting by mail or drop box.
Padilla’s legislation comes following California’s recently enacted SB 73, which prevents election interference at the state level, and the legislation is a proactive federal response to the Trump Administration’s escalating attacks on voting rights and election administration ahead of the 2026 midterms. Specifically, the bill would secure federal elections by: Allowing State Attorneys General and impacted voters to sue when federal officials unlawfully interfere with or intimidate them at polling places; Strengthening accountability by extending the statute of limitations from five to nine years for key federal election crimes, including interference by armed forces and voter intimidation, to enable them to be brought by future administrations for past actions; and Protecting ballots from improper seizure by limiting when state or federal law enforcement may seize ballots or election equipment and requiring court-authorized election officials to maintain joint custody whenever materials must be seized, especially prior to the resolution of an election.
In addition to Padilla, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).
“Voting is the fundamental right from which all other rights flow. That’s why, in the face of threats to our democracy, California has led the way in enacting laws that strengthen the security of our elections. I’m grateful Senator Padilla is now championing the SHIELD Our Elections Act, which would extend these important safeguards nationwide and provide additional protections. Every voter, in every corner of the country, deserves to cast a ballot free from intimidation and interference,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“Our nation’s elections must always be free from intimidation and unlawful interference from any source. Senator Padilla’s bill strengthens existing protections and holds accountable those who violate federal laws specifically designed to protect our democracy,” said California Secretary of State, Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D. “Every voter, election worker, and election official deserves the confidence in knowing that casting a ballot and administering an election are protected every step of the way. As California’s former Secretary of State, Padilla knows first-hand the importance of taking proactive steps to protect the fundamental right to vote.”
To commemorate the legacy of former Congressman and civil rights advocate John Lewis, Padilla hosted a voting rights breakfast roundtable with interfaith and civil society organizations.
President Trump's latest assault on California's election integrity has been met with unified opposition from state leaders. With the midterms approaching, the battle over voter trust is likely to intensify. California officials are urging residents to remain confident in the state's secure and accessible voting system.
