Californians may finish voting Tuesday, but in some competitive races, the final answer could still be days or even weeks away.
The state has long been known for taking more time than many others to report complete election results. That is partly by design: California has expanded voting access in recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, by mailing a ballot to every registered voter and allowing ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county elections offices within seven days.
For voters across Southern California and the Inland Empire, that means early election night totals may offer only a partial picture, especially in close contests where late-arriving mail ballots, signature reviews and provisional ballots could affect the outcome.
Gov. Gavin Newsom last month urged county election officials to count legally cast ballots “as quickly as possible” while maintaining accuracy. In a letter to local registrars, he warned that delays between Election Day and certification can create space for misinformation and disinformation to spread.
Still, election officials and voting experts say the state’s process is not simply a matter of slow counting. It includes multiple steps required under California law to verify ballots and protect voters’ rights.
Mail ballots that arrive before Election Day can be reviewed in advance, including signature verification and preparation for tabulation. But ballots dropped off on Election Day or received in the following week must go through that same process later, which can slow the release of updated results.
As of Monday afternoon, nearly 17% of registered California voters had returned ballots, according to Political Data Inc., a voter data firm. That pace was similar to the 2022 midterm election.
Paul Mitchell, founder of Political Data Inc., said he expects overall turnout to exceed the 2022 level. He pointed to stronger early turnout among Republicans and noted that many Democrats who had not yet returned ballots are frequent voters.
“There’s a lot of evidence here that we’re probably headed towards 38%, 40% turnout in total, rather than 33% which was the turnout in 2022,” Mitchell said.
Several recent changes are intended to speed up the process. Under Assembly Bill 5, signed into law last year, counties now have 13 days to complete counting most ballots, rather than 30 days. Counties still have 30 days to certify official results.
Newsom cited the change during a recent news conference as part of the state’s effort to produce election results more quickly.
But local election officials caution that the new deadline does not apply to every category of ballot. Jesse Salinas, Yolo County’s elections chief and president of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials, said some of the most time-consuming ballots are excluded from the 13-day requirement. Those include ballots from voters who registered on Election Day and ballots with signature issues that must be resolved under state law.
“I’m hearing these comments about ‘We should be done by the 13th day’ — that’s legally not possible by state law,” Salinas said.
California also gives voters time to correct certain problems, such as a missing or mismatched signature. Voting rights advocates say that process helps ensure eligible voters are not disenfranchised, but it also contributes to the longer wait for final results.
Another change could reduce the number of mail ballots that pile up at drop boxes and elections offices on Election Day. According to a survey by the California Voter Foundation, 26 of California’s 58 counties will allow voters to bring their mail ballots to an elections office Tuesday and have them scanned and counted that day as in-person ballots.
That option was authorized by Assembly Bill 626, passed in 2023. In Placer County, where officials introduced a version of the system in 2024 called “sign, scan and go,” the county reported that it reduced post-election processing time by about three to four days.
Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, said the shift is aimed at easing the late surge of mail ballots that otherwise must be processed after polls close.
California is one of eight states that allow all elections to be conducted by mail, with different rules for how long ballots may arrive after Election Day if postmarked on time. Those grace periods are now under scrutiny nationally, as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether states may require mail ballots to be received by Election Day.
The pace of California’s vote count has also drawn political attention because the state has a large number of closely contested districts. In such races, incomplete returns can leave candidates and voters waiting while counties continue processing ballots.
Some election experts reject the idea that slower counting is evidence of a flawed system.
Mindy Romero, a political sociologist and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at USC, said concerns about delays have often been tied to unfounded claims of voter fraud. She said the lengthy count reflects the safeguards built into the system, not evidence of tampering.
“I think the focus should not be on fixing something that is flawed or wrong, because that long count is a product of making sure that every ballot is verified — indeed, just the opposite of the claims around fraud,” Romero said.
Original source: CalMatters
