Why does California’s vote count take so long?

California started mailing ballots to all registered voters for the November 2020 election. This year, about 50% of ballots cast were counted on primary night March 5, compared to 41% in June 2022, according to data from the California Voter Foundation. 

But processing mail-in ballots can take time. Any ballots postmarked by March 5 and received by March 12 still get counted. Also, there are a number of steps county elections offices take to ensure the integrity of each voter’s ballot, some of which can’t start until after Election Day. And counties have varying levels of staffing or resources that can impact how quickly the work is done. As of Monday night, 10 of 58 counties reported completing their tallies. 

“It’s not just about counting ballots, although that is critically important,” said Ryan Ronco, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials and registrar of voters for Placer County. “It’s also about counting ballots accurately with staff that you have that can commit to that project — knowing that there are also other legally required projects that we need to complete during this period.”

Those counties that have finished counting include several small ones, but also a few larger ones such as San Francisco. California’s most populous county, Los Angeles, has counted more than 1.6 million ballots, and has about 5,000 left to go.  

While part of the delay is due to ensuring accuracy, lengthy vote counts can create distrust among some voters.

The state passed some laws to try and speed up the process. One new law allows counties to immediately scan vote-by-mail ballots from people who bring them in person. Placer County did so this primary: About 8,000 people used the system of the nearly 13,000 who came to vote centers.