politics
Late Mail Ballots Narrow Lead in Los Angeles Mayoral Primary
Late mail ballots have reduced one candidate's lead in the Los Angeles mayoral primary. The shift leaves the second-place contender with a 95% chance of advancing to the November runoff.
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Late mail ballots counted on Friday narrowed the gap between the top two contenders for second place in the Los Angeles mayoral primary. With 71% of votes counted, the leading challenger held 28.2% while the second-place candidate trailed at 24.9%. The remaining ballots, mostly mail-in votes, have favored the second-place candidate and cut the leader's margin by 20,672 votes in a single day.
County officials continued processing thousands of uncounted ballots on Saturday. The final spot in the November runoff is between the second-place finisher and incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, who is projected to advance. Oddsmakers had previously given the current leader more than a 75% chance of advancing.
After the latest count, the second-place candidate now holds a 95% probability of reaching the general election.
A conservative pollster told The California Post that the late surge raises questions about California's vote-counting system. The same pollster noted that the remaining ballots would need to favor the second-place candidate over the incumbent for the current ranking to change.
Social media users posted claims questioning the integrity of the election results. Officials have not announced a final tally or timeline for completing the count.
