Speaker Mike Johnson criticizes California vote counting timeline after June 2 primary

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized California’s election administration Monday, saying the state’s primary vote count is taking longer than Republicans contend is appropriate. Speaking in the Capitol, Johnson described the California primary as “stinks to high heaven” and said, “They are counting votes weeks after the election,” according to The Hill.

Johnson’s remarks echoed complaints that have circulated among Republicans about the integrity of California elections, with The Hill reporting that Johnson was repeating gripes raised by President Donald Trump and other GOP figures. The speaker also said he was not claiming the outcome was “rigged,” while arguing that the extended counting timeline raised concerns.

California’s election rules allow ballots to be counted after Election Day when they meet specific delivery and timing requirements. The California Secretary of State’s guidance says that vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by county election officials no later than seven days after Election Day to be counted.

Election administration in California also includes a post-election canvass period during which counties and the state continue processing ballots that arrive within the legal deadlines. The Secretary of State describes a 30-day post-election ballot counting canvass period in which counties process and count provisional ballots and vote-by-mail ballots that were postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days of the election.

For the June 2, 2026 statewide direct primary, California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber (D) said polls had closed following the election and pointed to the timeline established by law for completing counting and releasing results. In a release on June 5, Weber said counties must finish counting all ballots and release the vote count for those ballots on or before the 13th day following the election, which was June 15, 2026.

The Secretary of State also reports that ballots continue to be counted during the canvass period after Election Day. In the state’s published election results materials for the June 2 primary, the Secretary of State’s site says counties must report final official results to the Secretary of State by July 3, 2026, reflecting that the tabulation process can extend beyond Election Day.

Outside California, federal scrutiny of the vote-counting debate has intensified in recent days. Associated Press reported that the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles opened “multiple election fraud investigations” related to California elections and sent a prosecutor to a Los Angeles vote-counting center, days after President Trump made baseless claims about the state’s drawn-out vote count from the Tuesday primary.

As California election officials continue counting ballots under the state’s statutory timeline, Johnson’s comments add to a national political dispute over whether multi-day and multi-week vote tabulations are suspicious or simply the result of election procedures that are publicly documented by the state’s elections authority.