“Logan's office cannot withhold ballots or refuse to count them based solely on unverified allegations.” — Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan. Our verdict: Mostly True.
Dean Logan, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, made the claim in a statement about a US Department of Justice lawsuit, reported by ABC7 News on 16 October 2026 and published on the county's website on 15 October 2026.
Our verdict
Mostly True
The claim is broadly accurate. Los Angeles County's elections office and California election rules both say ballots cannot be withheld or left uncounted just because of unverified allegations, though the exact date of the statement is less certain.
What we found
We rated this claim mostly true. The substance of the claim is well supported. A statement posted on Los Angeles County's website on 15 October 2026 says Dean Logan's office cannot withhold or refuse to count ballots based solely on unverified allegations, and an earlier county statement from 14 October 2026 says the same thing. A report from ABC7 News on 16 October 2026 also describes Logan's office making that point. California's election rules back this up: the Secretary of State sets out required, transparent steps for counting and canvassing ballots, and state guidance says challenges to a voter's qualifications are limited to precinct board members. That leaves little room for an elections office to set ballots aside on unverified claims alone. The one weak spot is timing. The claim says the statement was made on 15 October 2026, but the county also published a near-identical statement on 14 October 2026, so we could not pin down the exact date with full certainty. That uncertainty about the date, not the substance, is why the verdict is mostly true rather than true.
The numbers
Timeline of public statements regarding ballot counting procedures in Los Angeles County (October 20
Multiple public statements from Los Angeles County and news reports confirm the policy that ballots cannot be withheld based solely on unverified allegations.
Figures in date
The evidence
3 of 6 sources support the claim; none contradict it.
- Background
A Los Angeles County statement says Dean Logan's office cannot withhold or refuse to count ballots based solely on unverified allegations. [1]
- Background
An earlier county statement from 14 October 2026 makes the same point, which supports the claim but muddies the exact date it was said. [2]
- Background
ABC7 News reports that Logan's office said it cannot withhold or refuse to count ballots based solely on unverified allegations. [3]
- Supports the claim
California's canvassing rules require specific, transparent procedures for counting ballots and reconciling them against voter records. [4]
- Supports the claim
California has uniform, written standards for deciding when a ballot counts as a vote, which limits how much discretion officials have. [5]
- Supports the claim
State guidance says challenges to a voter's qualifications are limited to precinct board members, which restricts the effect of outside allegations on ballot processing. [6]
What we could not confirm
- Whether the statement was made on 15 October 2026 or 14 October 2026, since the county published very similar statements on both dates.
- How the ongoing federal lawsuit might affect ballot processing in future, which is outside the scope of this claim.
How we checked
We looked at official statements from Los Angeles County and the California Secretary of State, plus a news report from ABC7 News, to see whether election officials and state rules support the claim. We reviewed 6 relevant sources.
Sources
- [1]lacounty.gov · Statement from Dean Logan Regarding U.S. Department of Justice Lawsuit – COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES · October 15, 2026
- [2]lacounty.gov · Statement from Dean Logan Regarding U.S. Department of Justice Correspondence – COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES · October 14, 2026
- [3]abc7news.com · Trump administration sues CA to block state from counting alleged noncitizen mail-in ballots · October 16, 2026
- [4]sos.ca.gov · Canvassing the Vote :: California Secretary of State
- [5]sos.ca.gov · Ballot Counting :: California Secretary of State
- [6]13.226.38.114 · General Election: Challenge Processes · September 23, 2026
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