Holding your breath to see who will advance in the race for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat? Don’t. The winners of California’s Senate primary might not be called for days — or weeks — thanks to the most populous state’s unusually long vote-counting process.
Why does it take so long?
- The sheer volume of votes: California has almost 22 million registered voters, according to the office of its secretary of state. That is higher than the total population of 47 individual states, according to Census Bureau figures.
- A high number of mail ballots: Californians have a strong tendency to vote by mail. About 90 percent of votes cast in California’s primaries and general election in 2022 were mailed in, according to official state tallies. Those ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days after the election. Mail ballots generally take longer to count because they require additional processing. Electoral officials, for instance, must compare the signatures on the mail-in ballots to those on file. If they don’t match, county elections officials are obliged by law to “reach out to voters to verify their signature to ensure that their ballot can be counted.”
- Provisional votes: Voters whose registration can’t be immediately confirmed on Election Day are given provisional ballots. These votes are usually counted after Election Day. California has ranked high in the number of provisional votes cast, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
- Same-day voter registration: California is also among the 22 states that allow same-day voter registration, meaning residents can show up at a polling place, register and vote. If poll workers can confirm they are eligible and haven’t already voted, they can get a nonprovisional vote. Otherwise, they get a provisional vote, which will be counted only after eligibility has been confirmed.
California has sought to expand mail-in ballots as part of efforts to improve voting access. In 2020, the state started to mail ballots to every registered voter. In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) made that permanent.
California’s extended deadline for mail ballots is not problematic in itself, said Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at UCLA. “It would not be a problem except for the fact that in our current polarized society filled with conspiracy theories about voting, the long period of counting leaves room for unsubstantiated claims of malfeasance,” he said in an email.