The March 5 California primary is over. And now the waiting begins.
County elections officials across the state must certify the results of the vote by April 4, 30 days after the primary. Eight days later, the California secretary of state will certify the results.
In contrast, Arizona, which holds its primary on March 19, two weeks after California, will finalize its results by April 8. That’s 10 days faster than California. In Nevada, the entire process for the Feb. 6 primary election was 10 days.
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So why does it take so long for California to finalize election results?
First, the state has more registered voters than any other. But that’s largely because California makes it so easy for citizens to be able to vote.
“In the last three elections, six to eight times more voters voted on the mail-in ballot than in person,” said Stephenie Shea, San Bernardino County’s registrar of voters. “That requires additional time than in-person ballots.”
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 that 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. But it got a big shot in the arm with the coronavirus pandemic. To avoid exposing voters — and poll workers, many of them older volunteers — to COVID-19, every registered voter in California was issued a ballot by mail. The practice continues four years later.
Ballots have to be postmarked by election day. It can take time for ballots to arrive by mail, especially when sent by Californians living out of state or overseas, such as military personnel. Ballots postmarked by election day are accepted as late as March 12. The secretary of state recommends military personnel mail their ballots weeks or months in advance. Those on a ship at sea are…
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