Why the GOP’s voter fraud theories in California don’t make sense | CNN Politics

The last week has brought the largest resurgence of election denialism since the aftermath of the 2020 election. Many on the right have cried foul over late shifts toward Democrats in results from California’s June 2 primary. But as was the case six years ago, the vast majority of the theories about why voter fraud is involved don’t withstand scrutiny. And increasingly, some top Republicans seem to be dealing with the pronounced lack of evidence by arguing that the fraud is just undetectable. Let’s run through some of the biggest supposed evidence of malfeasance, and why it’s not what it might seem. The conspiracy theories began bubbling last week as two GOP candidates saw their vote shares drop after primary night. Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton was in first place on election night but appeared at risk of dropping out of the top two as more votes rolled in. And Spencer Pratt, the buzzy Republican candidate for Los Angeles mayor, suddenly saw his significant election-night lead over third-place Nithya Raman, a Democratic Los Angeles City councilwoman, gradually get whittled away. A week later, Raman has beaten Pratt for the second slot against incumbent Mayor Karen Ba