2020年5月10日，加利福尼亚州兰开斯特市，在该州第25国会选区，人们在提前投票站为民主党州议员克里斯蒂·史密斯和共和党商人、前海军飞行员迈克·加西亚之间的特别选举投票，以取代前民主党议员凯蒂·希尔。

共和党人可能会在周二推翻加州第25选区，这对于前众议员凯蒂·希尔(Katie Hill)的席位来说将是一个意外的颠覆，而且这将紧随唐纳德·特朗普总统称选举“被操纵”之后，因为他对倾向民主党的选区的新投票中心感到不安。

特朗普在周六的推文中表示，加州州长加文·纽瑟姆不会让餐馆、海滩和商店开门营业，“但他在一个高度民主的地区安装了投票两者系统(应该只通过投票的方式发送)，因为我们伟大的候选人@MikeGarcia2020赢得了很多选票。CA25操纵选举！”

奥巴马总统过去曾将增加投票机会的努力定性为党派之争，他谈到了上周在加利福尼亚州兰开斯特通过的投票中心，这是在周二加利福尼亚州议会成员、民主党人克里斯蒂·史密斯和前海军战斗机飞行员、共和党人迈克·加西亚之间的特别选举之前。

当地民主党人表示，该中心将确保非裔美国人不会被剥夺选举权，他们认为非裔美国人更有可能亲自投票。史密斯在一份发给的声明中感谢国会黑人核心小组对投票中心的支持新闻周刊。

她称投票中心是“必要的”，她说，“在加利福尼亚，我们相信广泛的投票权，我们允许人们在同一天进行临时登记和投票。”

“残疾选民有时需要帮助和/或适应性设备来投票，投票中心提供了这一点，”她补充道。

冠状病毒大流行引发了全国范围内的邮寄投票，CA-25特别选举是对类似程序的早期测试，将在其他几个州生效，也是对11月全国范围内发生的事情的预演。史密斯的一名发言人告诉记者，在该地区的正常选举中，大约会有1000个投票站华盛顿邮报，但是周二只有13个，包括兰开斯特的那个。

让共和党人对投票中心更加失望的一个问题包括获得一个意想不到的席位的机会，但前提是民主党倾向的选区一切顺利。到目前为止，早期的投票对他们有利:政治数据公司(PDI)的一个顶级选票追踪系统显示，共和党人到目前为止已经获得了39%的选票，相比之下，民主党人只获得了25%的选票，独立选民获得了19%的选票。但是，在2016年希拉里·克林顿以7个百分点的优势获胜，2018年前众议员凯蒂·希尔以9个百分点的优势获胜的选区，选举日的投票可能不会获胜。

加西亚在推特上说，史密斯“和她的自由民主党盟友几个星期以来什么也没说，尽管投票站在公众的视野之内。即使在每个选民都收到选票后，他们还是不顾一切，试图改变规则来窃取选举。”他的办公室拒绝进一步置评，直接新闻周刊到他的推特上。

但是加西亚的支持者之一，兰开斯特市长雷克斯·帕里斯——在特朗普三个月前访问洛杉矶时，他在停机坪上满面笑容地迎接他——提出了投票中心的要求，因为，他说，“甚至不应该出现通过限制投票能力来影响选举结果的情况。”

“共和党赢得加州席位的唯一途径是在大流行期间的极低投票率选举中，”前加州共和党政治主任迈克·马德里告诉记者新闻周刊。马德里在该地区长大，并于1992年在那里参加了他的第一次国会竞选。他说加西亚现在应该能够赢得这个席位，但由于投票率和人口统计数据较高，他将在11月失去这个席位。

这些人口统计数据的一部分包括该地区超过三分之一的拉丁裔，但相应的早期投票率却不在同一水平，根据PDI选票追踪系统，白人选民的投票率是拉丁裔选民的两倍，33%对16%。

共和党的胜利将暂时给他们一个由民主党人占据的席位，在此之前，前国会女议员希尔在未征得她同意的情况下发布了一些私密照片，并因被指控与一名国会工作人员关系不当而受到众议院道德委员会的调查，随后她辞职了。史密斯和加西亚将在11月再次竞选，任期两年。

冠状病毒危机已成为两党候选人之间的高风险分歧，加西亚支持特朗普尽快重开各州的计划，史密斯支持加州州长加文·纽瑟姆更缓慢地重开该州经济的计划，以及要求当地社区做好跟踪和追踪新冠状病毒感染的准备的计划。

今年3月，总统在与《福克斯和朋友们》通电话时明确表示，他认为增加投票措施是对共和党当选的威胁。

“他们在那里拥有的东西太疯狂了，”特朗普谈到民主党人推动通过最初的冠状病毒救助法案来增加投票机会。“他们有一些东西，投票的级别，如果你同意了，你就不会再有一个共和党人在这个国家当选了。”

TRUMP SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO 'RIG' A CALIFORNIA SPECIAL ELECTION—HERE'S WHAT'S GOING ON

People vote at an early voting station for the special election between Democratic state assembly woman Christy Smith and Republican businessman and ex-Navy pilot Mike Garcia to replace former Democratic Congresswoman Katie Hill in the state's 25th Congressional District, in Lancaster, California on May 10, 2020.

Republicans could flip California's 25th district Tuesday in what would be a surprising upset for former Representative Katie Hill's seat, and it would come on the heels of President Donald Trump calling the election "rigged" because he was upset about a new voting center in the Democratic-leaning district.

In his tweets Saturday, Trump said California Governor Gavin Newsom won't let restaurants, beaches and stores open, "but he installs a voting both system in a highly Democrat area (supposed to be mail in ballots only) because our great candidate, @MikeGarcia2020, is winning by a lot. CA25 Rigged Election!"

The president, who in the past has framed efforts to increase voting opportunities as partisan, was speaking about a voting center approved last week in Lancaster, California, ahead of Tuesday's special election between Democrat Christy Smith, a member of the California State Assembly, and Republican Mike Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot.

Local Democrats said the center would ensure that African Americans, whom they argued are more likely to vote in person, are not disenfranchised. Smith thanked the Congressional Black Caucus for supporting the voting center in a statement sent to Newsweek.

She called the voting centers "necessary," saying that "in California we believe in expansive voting rights and we allow people to register and vote provisionally the same day."

"Voters with disabilities sometimes require assistance and/or adaptive devices to vote, and vote centers provide that," she added.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a nationwide push for mail-in voting, with the CA-25 special election serving as an early test of similar processes that will be in effect in several other states, and a preview of what plays out across the country in November. In a normal election in the district, there would be roughly 1,000 polling locations, a Smith spokesman told The Washington Post, but on Tuesday there will only be 13, including the one in Lancaster.

An issue fueling Republican frustration with the voting centers includes the opportunity to pick up an unexpected seat, but only if things go right in the Democratic-leaning district. The early vote so far favors them: A top ballot tracker from Political Data Inc. (PDI) shows that Republicans have so far returned 39 percent of their ballots, compared with only 25 percent of ballots returned by Democrats and 19 percent from independent voters. But an Election Day vote victory may not be likely in a district Hillary Clinton won by seven points in 2016 and former representative Katie Hill won by nine points in 2018.

Garcia said on Twitter that Smith "and her liberal Dem allies didn't say anything for weeks even though the polling places were in full view of the public. Even after every voter received a ballot, they are desperate and trying to change the rules to steal an election." His office declined to comment further, directing Newsweek to his tweets.

But one of Garcia's supporters, Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris—who greeted Trump on the tarmac with a wide smile during his visit to Los Angeles just three months ago—made the request for the voting center because, he said, "there should not be even the appearance of affecting the outcome by limiting the ability to vote."

"The only way Republicans can win a California seat is in an extremely low-turnout election in the middle of a pandemic," former California Republican Party political director Mike Madrid told Newsweek. Madrid, who grew up in the area and worked in his first congressional race there in 1992, said Garcia should be able to win the seat now, but will lose it in November because of higher turnout and demographics.

Part of those demographics include the fact that the district is more than one-third Latino, but corresponding early turnout is not at the same level, with white voters returning their ballots at double the rate as Latino voters, 33 percent to 16 percent for Hispanics, according to the PDI ballot tracker.

A win for Republicans would temporarily give them a seat held by Democrats before former congresswoman Hill resigned after intimate photos were released without her consent and she was investigated by the House Ethics Committee over an accusation of an improper relationship with a congressional staffer. Smith and Garcia would then run against each other again in November for a full two-year term.

The coronavirus crisis has emerged as a high stakes disagreement between the two candidates along partisan lines, with Garcia supporting Trump's plan to reopen states as soon as possible, and Smith supporting California Governor Gavin Newsom's plan to reopen the state's economy more slowly, along with a plan that would require local communities to be prepared to track and trace new coronavirus infections.

The president made clear in March during a phone call with Fox & Friends that he views increased voting measures as a threat to getting Republicans elected.

"The things they had in there were crazy," Trump said about a push by Democrats to increase voting access through the initial coronavirus relief bills. "They had things, levels of voting that if you'd ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again."