# California is still counting, would this be acceptable if it was a battleground state? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 19, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461 "2024-11-19T15:00:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/1 "2024-11-19T15:00:43Z")
We are two weeks off from election day and California is still nowhere near done counting votes. We kinda just ignore this because its a solid blue state, but there are competitive house races yet to be called due to their slow speed. I don’t understand how this is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/2 "2024-11-19T15:09:59Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I don’t understand how this is acceptable. California has clearly defined rules about what ballots count. And that’s what they do. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/3 "2024-11-19T15:10:55Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > California has clearly defined rules about what ballots count. And that’s what they do. From the _Washington Post_ Editorial Board: [“Opinion California’s never-ending election”](https://wapo.st/48ZrpdK): > _On Nov. 12 — a week after Election Day — the state still had more than [2.6 million unprocessed ballots](https://web.archive.org/web/20241112181858/https://electionresults.sos.ca.gov/unprocessed-ballots-status). That figure included more than 350,000 ballots cast by voters whose registrations must be confirmed to be valid and another 161,477 ballots that need “curing,” a process through which voters may correct ballots with mismatched signatures or other errors._ > > _The delays are in part by design. In 2021, the state made permanent its pandemic-era experiment with [voting entirely by mail](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-27/california-universal-voting-by-mail-becomes-permanent). Every registered California voter receives a mail-in ballot, and [the vast majority](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/historical-absentee) of the state’s votes are cast by mail. Those ballots may arrive up to seven days after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 5. If signatures don’t match existing records, officials contact the voters, who have until Dec. 1 to cure their ballot. Then there are the thousands of provisional ballots, which are hand-counted and manually verified._ Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/4 "2024-11-19T15:12:40Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > California has clearly defined rules about what ballots count. And that’s what they do. Ok, but why is it so slow and why can’t it be faster? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/5 "2024-11-19T15:18:21Z")
From [Official Canvass - Vote Counting Process :: California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/vote-counting-process/) > ### Why does the counting of ballots take up to 30 days? > > During the 30-day canvass period, county elections officials will process and count provisional ballots, ballots from voters who registered and voted conditionally (Same Day Voter Registration), and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days of the election. This process includes a comparison of signatures on envelopes to the signatures on file. If a signature is missing or does not compare to the signature on file, state law requires county elections officials to reach out to voters to verify their signature to ensure that their ballot can be counted. By law, voters are allowed to verify their signature up to two days before the county certifies their results. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/6 "2024-11-19T15:19:56Z")
Is California the only state that hasn’t finished? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/7 "2024-11-19T15:43:41Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I don’t understand how this is acceptable. I do not understand how it isn’t acceptable. What is the rush? I guess the problem would come if CA was again a swing state, and demagogues used the delay in their rhetorical effort to undermine democracy. But if that was the case, we would have bigger problems, as we do. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/8 "2024-11-19T15:45:18Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Ok, but why is it so slow and why can’t it be faster? As covered in detail by otheres above with cites. The punchline being: 1. Not enough employees to do all the work in just a couple of days. 2. The process requires contacting citizens and getting their responses. Which is an inherently slow process that includes required amounts of delay to allow the public time to respond. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/9 "2024-11-19T15:49:36Z")
How many offices are being filled in the California elections? I would think that the number of offices in play affects the counting process, and time, because a ballot isn’t counted just once, correct? The same ballot contains federal offices, state offices, and municipal offices, correct? Which have to be tabulated separately for each office? Wouldn’t that all increase the time? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/10 "2024-11-19T15:51:20Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I do not understand how it isn’t acceptable. What is the rush? Agreed. There’s no need to get this done faster. The media has been in league with the politicians to make this an issue to promote their own interests. Every state should be using the long period of time available to them to recount and check the validity of votes instead of rushing the process. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/11 "2024-11-19T16:10:37Z")
I wonder what the overlap is between people who are concerned about election fraud, and people who are impatient about getting final election results. I bet it’s really big. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/12 "2024-11-19T16:13:15Z")
There’s inherent tension between “The faster we do it, the easier it is for bad acts to be skipped over” and “The longer it takes, the more opportunity for secret shenanigans”. It’s also a tension between believing the likely source for fraud is outsiders (individuals or groups) or the election tallying officials themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/13 "2024-11-19T16:29:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s also a tension between believing the likely source for fraud is outsiders (individuals or groups) or the election tallying officials themselves. And yet, the best way to counter fraud by election officials is to audit the results from a third party, which causes further delays. No matter what, the efforts to make sure that the election was done properly will lead to delays. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/14 "2024-11-19T16:38:46Z")
Of note: House District 13 has about 2000 votes separating the candidates and only 87% complete according to CNN right now. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/15 "2024-11-19T17:51:12Z")
It took Clark County, NV (Las Vegas) a week or so the previous election. People were complaining a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/16 "2024-11-19T19:25:12Z")
It’s the classic trade space of “sooner, better, cheaper–pick two”. If we want the votes counted sooner and better, it’s going to cost more. If we want the votes counted better and cheaper, it’s going to take longer. If we want the votes counted cheaper and sooner, it’s not going to be as accurate. Pick the poison. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/17 "2024-11-19T19:35:07Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Of note: House District 13 has about 2000 votes separating the candidates and only 87% complete according to CNN right now. [Democrat Derek Tran's lead over GOP's Michelle Steel grows to 102 votes in the 45th House District](https://laist.com/news/politics/democrat-derek-tran-gop-michelle-steel-45th-house-district) _Democrat Derek Tran’s lead over GOP’s Michelle Steel grows to 102 votes in the 45th House District_ And in my district the traitor MAGA had a slight lead , but now has lost- _that is why you could all the votes._ ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/18 "2024-11-19T20:17:13Z")
I mean, you obviously pick “sooner” and “better”. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/19 "2024-11-19T21:15:42Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > How many offices are being filled in the California elections? I would think that the number of offices in play affects the counting process, and time, because a ballot isn’t counted just once, correct? The same ballot contains federal offices, state offices, and municipal offices, correct? Which have to be tabulated separately for each office? Wouldn’t that all increase the time? The ballots just need to go through the tabulator once, not once per race. In another thread when I complained that Arizona’s ballot went to two legal sized sheets (four legal sized pages) someone mentioned that their California ballot was four sheets/eight pages. I know Arizona was slowed by the additional handling needed for the extra sheet. Four sheets, the largest population, a very high percentage of mail ballots, very generous deadlines (AZ required receipt by election day and the deadline for “curing” is the following Sunday) - I’m sure it’s a major effot to get done within 30 days. FWIW Arizona is still not finished (well, they might be finished this afternoon), Yuma county was still showing 6002 ballots left to tabulate as of last night. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461/20 "2024-11-20T03:15:59Z")
It did happen in a swing state in 2000. Florida results were not final until the Supreme Court stopped the counting on Dec 12. And even after that an unused recount showed the Gore had actually won. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-is-still-counting-would-this-be-acceptable-if-it-was-a-battleground-state/1010461.md?page=2)