A California election watchdog issued a sharply critical report Thursday, faulting the state for running the nation’s slowest vote-counting system and finding that many of the holdups are tied to administrative problems that could be corrected.
The California Voter Foundation published the report ahead of the July 2 deadline for counties to certify results from this month’s primary, an election that drew national scrutiny as voters waited days after Election Day for clarity in the governor’s race and the contest for Los Angeles mayor.
“California has one of the most accessible voting systems in the world, but our long count overshadows our strengths,” said Kim Alexander, the foundation’s president. “When results take weeks, it creates space for confusion and misinformation.”
Public irritation intensified earlier this month after many Californians alleged something was amiss when mayoral contender Spencer Pratt’s Election Night advantage disappeared in the following days as officials kept counting mail ballots that arrived after polls closed.
A major factor behind the lengthy tabulation is California’s expansive vote-by-mail system, which allows ballots to be counted if they arrive as much as seven days after Election Day, provided they were postmarked by the deadline.
The report, however, pointed to additional sources of delay.
Ballots can be rejected in large numbers when signatures are missing or fail to match voter records, and California law requires counties to contact those voters and give them up to 22 days to fix the issue.
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Administrative hurdles further slow the process. Counties must wait for voter records to be updated in California’s centralized database before they can review provisional ballots and verify a voter’s eligibility. The report ties that cumbersome step to the state’s aging “bottom-up” voter registration structure, a system now used by only a small number of states.
The report highlighted the need for better voting equipment and facilities. For instance, in Placer County, investments helped more than double the number of ballots counted there in the first week from 2022 to 2024.
Fixing signature problems on mail ballots can be accomplished through electronic curing systems such as through text or on the phone, the report said, which can be faster and more helpful for younger voters that tend to have more of the signature issues.
It also recommended statewide awareness campaigns to get people to turn in their ballots early.
“California does not need to choose between faster results and voter access,” the foundation said. “What is needed now is state investment and guidance.”
California’s whole election system — particularly its expansive mail ballot access — may be under threat, however.
The nation’s top postal official has confirmed a proposal is being weighed that could block the delivery of mail ballots in states that refuse to share voter data with the federal government.
Meanwhile, a looming Supreme Court decision could put an end to delayed ballot counts and invalidate late-arriving mail ballots.
