Trump supporter caravan blocks people from voting in California

Would-be voters called police and said the caravan violated electioneering laws

A huge caravan of supporters of President Donald Trump reportedly blocked the road to a voting centre in Temecula, California, on Sunday afternoon, prompting would-be voters to call the police.

The supporters paraded for 60 miles through Riverside County on Sunday afternoon before gathering at the city’s sports park. 

However, the crowd and their vehicles also ended up obstructing the access to the site, which included a voting centre, according to the LA Times, leading some voters to complain to the authorities that the behaviour amounted to intimidation.

Brooke Federico, a spokeswoman for Riverside County, said in an email to the newspaper: “Law enforcement was contacted to ensure that access to the parking lot and voter assistance centre was clear.

“The Sheriff’s Department responded and cleared access to the parking lot and voter assistance centre.”

Assembled through a Twitter hashtag, the caravan of Trump supporters roamed around the area in pickup trucks and other vehicles adorned with pro-Trump signboards and US flags.

The rally consisted of over 4,000 cheering supporters of Mr Trump who eventually gathered at the Ronald Reagan Sports Park in the city, close to the voting location at the Temecula Community Recreation Center building.

Captain Zach Hall of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said police had made no arrests so far, but the complaints were registered after phone calls from voters who alleged the signboards within view of the voting centre violated election rules.

California state law prohibits any electioneering in a 100m radius of polling stations.

However, the police also say they spoke to the polling workers who stated the Trump supporters maintained their distance from the voters.

Speaking about the traffic issues, Mr Hall said: “They caught us off guard. We had a lot of traffic issues. The infrastructure there is not really designed for that kind of traffic.”