Donald Trump accuses California 'Dumocrats' of stealing elections for governor and mayor as votes come in

President Donald Trump has accused the Democratic Party of rigging California's elections after a delay in counting votes.

Although California commonly has a days-long delay in counting votes, Trump alleged there had been 'cheating' going on and accused the Democrats of 'rigging the election'.

“So what's happening in California? They're rigging the election now,” the president said on Thursday (4 June) in the Oval Office. “Maybe we caught them and maybe they won't be able to get away with it.”

The allegation - which has no evidence to support it - were denied by the Democrats, but Trump continued to share further baseless accusations online.

He wrote, "The Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES.

“Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS.”

Donald Trump has accused the Democratic Party of 'cheating' in the California election (Getty)

Despite there being no evidence to support the fraud allegations, Trump continued to take aim at the Democrats in further posts.

In a separate post shared on Truth Social on Thursday (4 June), he claimed, "“There's BIG cheating by the Dumocrats in California. Votes are all tied up. May not be in for weeks. Under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. Why the vote counting DELAY???"

The delay in California's election results is due to the state being home to around 23 million registered voters, with the majority voting via mail-in ballots.

These ballots are valid as long as they have been posted by election day and arrive to county election offices by 9 June.

Combined with an extensive verification process which can take up to three weeks, California's votes have long been subject to major delays in comparison to other states.

Trump's accusations come as late-counting mail ballots in favour of the Democrats have began to narrow the margins for candidates backed by the president and the Republican Party in significant races, such as the Los Angeles mayor.

Numerous Democratic candidates jumped in on the race, including billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer, former cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

Gavin Newsom, current Governor and a Democrat, is not running for re-election due to term limits.

Current Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, is not running for re-election due to term limits.

Vote counting in California tends to take much longer than other states (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The main Republican candidate in the running for California Governor is Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host and ex-advisor to former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who Trump has endorsed.

Spencer Pratt, a reality TV star famed for appearing on The Hills, is a candidate in the Los Angeles mayoral race, and while he is officially nonpartisan, he too has been backed by the president.