Voting by mail, provisional ballots, same-day registration, and record voter turnout in the United States all slowed things down.
California’s March 5 primary has ended. And now the waiting begins.
County election officials across the state must certify voting results by April 4, 30 days after the primary election. Eight days later, California’s Secretary of State will certify the results.
By contrast, Arizona, which held its primary on March 19, two weeks after California, will finalize its results on April 8. That’s 10 days ahead of California. In Nevada, the entire primary election process on February 6 took 10 days.
Volunteer election worker Kevin Worten gives an “I Voted” sticker to Anthony Vasquez after casting his vote in the Martin Luther King Jr. High School library in San Bernardino on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
So why is it taking California so long to finalize its election results?
First, the state has more registered voters than any other state. However, this is largely because California makes it easy for its citizens to be able to vote.
“In the last three elections, six to eight times as many voters voted by mail than in person,” said Stephenie Shea, San Bernardino County’s voter registration officer. “This takes longer than in-person voting.”
In the November 2022 election, 87.52% of voters voted by mail, according to the California Secretary of State. In Riverside County, 90.11% of voters voted by mail in the election, 85.52% of San Bernardino County voters did so, as did 80.16% of Los Angeles County voters.
Voting by mail has been popular in California for years. However, this has had a big impact due to the corona virus pandemic. To avoid exposing voters – and poll workers, most of whom are elderly volunteers – to COVID-19, every registered voter in California was given a mail-in ballot . This practice continued four years later.
Ballots must be postmarked by election day. It can take a long time for ballots to arrive in the mail, especially when sent by Californians who live out of state or abroad, such as military personnel. Ballots postmarked by election day are accepted no later than March 12. The Secretary of State recommends military personnel mail their ballots weeks or months in advance. Those on ships at sea are advised to return their ballots by January 27 to ensure they are counted on time.
But most people vote closer to election day. And this creates bottlenecks that slow down calculations. According to the Secretary of State, mail-in ballots can begin processing up to 29 days before election day. But the results cannot be published until polls close on election day.
As of March 4, 135,603 had been returned to the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters — 11.63% of the total ballots cast in this election. As of 8 p.m. March 5, 268,724 ballots had been returned to Riverside County — 19.06% of the ballots cast.
Once the ballot arrives, the local elections office must verify that the signature on the ballot is that of a registered voter and that no one voted twice. If there are questions, workers contact registered voters to ensure the ballot was actually sent by the voter. Some of this can be done with a computer. But in the end, it takes a lot of people. And if there is a possibility of a problem at the polling station, humans are required to do a manual recount. It’s a process that could take up to 30 days, according to the Secretary of State.
Provisional ballots are issued at polling places when there is a question about whether someone can vote at a particular location. The process can also take longer. And Californians can register to vote on Election Day, which also slows things down.
Since the last election, the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters has tried to simplify the process to speed up the election process this year.
“We have purchased additional tabulators and we have also been able to hire additional staff to increase our processing times,” Shea said.
And those who are concerned about how this will play out and want to watch the election process are welcome to do so.
“Some members of the public are still asking questions about election security and election integrity and that is definitely on everyone’s mind. But our job here is to conduct safe and transparent elections,” Shea said.
The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, like other county election offices, allows visitors to observe the election process, no appointment necessary. The entire process uses certified and inspected equipment and chain of custody procedures to document who has access to the ballot at any given time. Residents of Riverside County and Los Angeles County can watch the vote count live online.