CHAOS - The Los Angeles mayoral race takes a turn after video from a polling facility is leaked.
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.
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.
Calif. Sheriff Investigates ‘Massive’ Ballot Discrepancy In Special Election
St. Paul, Minnesota - June 12, 2026
Minnesota House Committee Falls Short on Subpoena for Rep. Ilhan Omar in Feeding Our Future Investigation
A Minnesota House committee voted 5-3 in favor of issuing a subpoena to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) but fell one vote short of the six votes required under the chamber’s bipartisan operating agreement. The subpoena would have compelled Omar to testify and provide documents related to her connections to the Feeding Our Future federal child nutrition fraud investigation, one of the largest pandemic-era fraud schemes in the country.
Committee Chair Kristin Robbins argued the subpoena had become necessary after Omar declined multiple invitations to testify and failed to respond to document requests.
“We have reached out to Representative Ilhan Omar on multiple occasions, inviting her to testify and inviting and requesting documents,” Robbins said. “The only tool left for us as a committee if we want to get these documents is to issue a subpoena.”
Focus on the MEALS Act and Investigation Details
Republicans on the panel have focused on Omar’s sponsorship of the federal MEALS Act in March 2020, which they argue loosened oversight requirements in federal nutrition programs and created conditions that enabled large-scale fraud.
“Representative Omar had some role, whether inadvertent or not,” Robbins said. “She passed the MEALS Act in March of 2020, and that took the guardrails off the federal school nutrition program which created the conditions for Feeding Our Future.”
Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of individuals in the scandal, including nonprofit founder Aimee Bock and numerous associates tied to Minnesota’s Somali community. Republicans sought communications between Omar and individuals connected to the investigation, as well as records tied to her public promotion of Safari Restaurant, a Minneapolis business later linked to the scandal.
Democrats on the committee opposed the subpoena, accusing Republicans of politicizing the investigation and questioning the timing with only days remaining in the legislative session.
Dave Pinto, the committee’s lead Democrat, argued that even if information were received, the committee would not have time to act on it.
Next Steps and Context
The failed vote blocks the Minnesota House committee from compelling Omar’s testimony before the session ends later this month. Robbins indicated Republicans are exploring other options, including asking members of Congress to issue a subpoena.
The Feeding Our Future case has drawn significant attention as one of the largest fraud schemes uncovered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal authorities have described it as involving the misuse of federal child nutrition funds intended for meal programs.
May you like
Omar has not publicly responded in detail to the specific requests from the committee in recent weeks. The investigation continues at the federal level, with multiple defendants already facing charges.
The effort to obtain Omar’s testimony reflects ongoing partisan tensions in Minnesota over the handling of the scandal and its potential connections to public officials. As the legislative session winds down, Republicans have signaled they will continue pursuing information through alternative channels.
