The law, Assembly Bill 5, requires county election offices to count ballots no later than 13 days after election day, but does not change the 30-day deadline for local officials to certify results. Counties unable to meet the new deadline must give a reason for an extension to the secretary of state’s office.

“California has one of the most accessible and secure voting systems in the country,” said the bill’s author, Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Menlo Park Democrat, in a statement. “One opportunity for improvement was to speed up how quickly we count ballots and create a system that gave greater certainty to the public for when results would be available.”

Voter fraud is rare, typically occurs in isolated instances and is generally detected. However, local election officials have received greater scrutiny across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies disputed false claims of election fraud after the 2020 election. 

Local officials in California have since launched social media campaigns to explain and show voters how their ballots are processed. 

Lawmakers suggest the new law, which received bipartisan support in the state Legislature, will help clamp down on misinformation as some Republicans have grown increasingly distrustful of mail ballots. It takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, so will not apply to November’s vote on Proposition 50.

Proponents such as the nonprofit California Voter Foundation have said it will increase the public’s trust in elections and avoid officials being sworn in before their races have been certified, which was the case for a number of state lawmakers last year.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office opposed the bill. 

Timothy Cromartie, a spokesperson for Weber, said at a Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee earlier this year that there was a concern that 13 days would not be enough time for counties, which currently have 30 days to complete the count. The secretary of state’s office proposed a deadline of 15 days instead, but that was not adopted.

“As always, we will do our best to uphold the laws as passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor,” Weber said in a written statement.

More mail-in ballots slow down counting

It is increasingly common for counties to take weeks to count ballots due to the growing popularity of mail-in ballots, particularly after the coronavirus pandemic. More than 80% of California voters voted by mail in the 2024 November election, according to the secretary of state’s office. That trend has accelerated since a 2021 law required each registered voter to receive a mail ballot. 

Mail ballots take longer for officials to process than votes at a polling place because of the required steps for officials to verify signatures and confirm that voters have not already cast a ballot somewhere else. The state also allows ballots postmarked by election day to be counted even if they arrive up to a week later. Those ballots will not be subject to the 13-day deadline, nor will provisional ballots or ballots missing voter signatures.

It is not possible to know how long it took counties to count all their ballots in the last election because of a state law that prohibited them from certifying results any earlier than 28 days after election day, Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, said in an email.

“Historically, some counties count faster than others. This has to do with a number of factors – space, equipment, staffing,” Alexander said. 

Some California counties, such as Los Angeles, can take close to a month to count election results, as was the case last year in the 22nd Congressional District in Southern California, which was eventually won by Democratic Rep. Derek Tran. Experts largely attribute California’s size and widespread use of mail-in ballots as the reason for this.

Los Angeles County officials say the new law will change little about how they process ballots.

“We’ve always processed ballots much earlier than the date signed into the law. We’re not particularly concerned with that 13-day requirement,” said Mike Sanchez, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Clerk. “It may seem more ceremonial than anything else.”

Election workers have said that public messaging urging voters to drop or mail off their ballots sooner could speed up the process.

Newsom also signed a bill that bans voters from being paid to register to vote in response to the millions of dollars that billionaire Elon Musk gave away to registered voters in swing states during the 2024 election. Another piece of legislation he signed would schedule a ballot measure for the 2026 election to allow voters to decide if taxpayer funds can be used for political campaigns.

The post California voters could see faster election results under new state law  appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The Associated Press declared Calvert the winner of the competitive district on Wednesday afternoon. He is now poised to serve a 17th term, making him the longest-serving Republican in the California congressional delegation.

Ahead of his projected victory, GOP incumbent posted a message to his followers on social media on Monday, announcing his defeat of Rollins and thanking voters for their support. Calvert (R-Corona), 71, has served in various congressional districts — 42nd, 44th, 43rd and now 41st — since 1993.

“I’m honored that Riverside County voters have once again placed their trust in me to continue delivering results for them in Washington,” Calvert said. “This is a hard-fought victory that shows voters want someone who will put results over partisan politics.”

But his 40-year-old competitor from Palm Springs has not conceded and said earlier this week that it was still too soon to declare victory.

Coby Eiss, Rollins’ campaign manager, told Patch that they would have a statement after Wednesday night’s votes are tallied.

After Calvert declared a win on Monday, Eiss responded with a statement on Monday, insisting that there are tens of thousands of votes left to be counted across the Inland Empire. With vote-by-mail ballots and conditional ballots still rolling in, it’s too soon to declare victory, according to Eiss.

“We view the race as too close to call and will continue to monitor the results as we wait for potentially 20% or more of the electorate to have their voice heard,” Eiss said.

According to the latest tallies from the Secretary of State, Calvert was pulling ahead with 51.3% of the vote (161,202) and Rollins was trailing close behind with 48.7% of votes (153,079).

Across Riverside County, an estimated 70,000 vote-by-mail and 35,000 conditional ballots remain to be counted, according to the latest update from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.

The 41st Congressional District is diverse and encompasses a vast swath of Riverside County. It includes the cities of Corona, Norco, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Canyon Lake, Menifee, Calimesa, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, Indian Wells, and portions of Eastvale and Riverside. The district also includes the unincorporated areas of El Sobrante, Woodcrest, Temescal Valley, Lakeview, Nuevo, Homeland, Winchester, Cherry Valley, Anza, Pine Cove and Idyllwild.

The latest public disagreement from the candidates comes as many races balanced on a knife’s edge in the days following the election. In California, many neck-and-neck races are being closely watched as election officials work through hundreds of thousands of ballots.

The 41st is a closely watched race nationwide because it could help determine the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives next year.

Statewide, only about three-quarters of its votes have been counted. This isn’t unusual or unexpected, as the nation’s most populous state is consistently among the slowest to report all its election results.

Although the results are far from final, Republicans in California appeared to gain ground in several races. For the presidential race, voters just barely flipped the county red, according to the latest returns. But ultimately, voters seemed to be split evenly when choosing between President-elect Donald Trump, who received 407,140 votes and Vice President Kamala Harris, who got 403,588 from county voters.

There’s still room for Trump’s near 40% margin to shift in the Golden State as the Associated Press estimates elections officials have only counted about 76% of the vote. Vice President Kamala Harris currently leads Trump by 20.8 points in California, with 58.9% of the total — or 7,721,839 — votes.

Lawmakers in California designed their elections to improve accessibility and increase turnout. Whether it’s automatically receiving a ballot at home, having up until Election Day to turn it in or having several days to address any problems that may arise with their ballot, Californians have a lot of time and opportunity to vote. It comes at the expense of knowing the final vote counts soon after polls close.

“Our priority is trying to maximize participation of actively registered voters,” said Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman, who authored the 2021 bill that permanently switched the state to all-mail elections. “What that means is things are a little slower. But in a society that wants immediate gratification, I think our democracy is worth taking a little time to get it right and to create a system where everyone can participate.”

The post Calvert Wins Reelection To 41st District; Rollins Yet To Concede appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.