{"id":108971,"date":"2026-04-26T13:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T13:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/california-election-officials-face-false-choice-count-votes-quickly-or-count-them-right\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T13:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T13:42:01","slug":"california-election-officials-face-false-choice-count-votes-quickly-or-count-them-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/california-election-officials-face-false-choice-count-votes-quickly-or-count-them-right\/","title":{"rendered":"California Election Officials Face False Choice: Count Votes Quickly or Count Them Right"},"content":{"rendered":"


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That lengthy wait has increasingly sown distrust in the accuracy of California\u2019s results, especially among Republicans, and particularly in races where a candidate leading on election day falls behind as more ballots are processed in subsequent days.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day matters,\u201d said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. \u201cElection security is about security in reality and also security in perception, and they\u2019re both equally important.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Joanna Francescut, assistant registrar of voters, opens a metal doorway at the Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters offices. (Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During a panel Thursday on election integrity, presented by CalMatters and the UC Student and Policy Center, Alexander argued that election administrators are boxing themselves into a \u201cfalse choice\u201d if they sacrifice timeliness in the name of accuracy. When winners aren\u2019t decided for days, sometimes weeks, the ensuing uncertainty leaves room for doubt to take root, speculation to grow and misinformation to spread.<\/p>\n

It took eight days in 2024 for The Associated Press to be able to declare Republicans had won control of the U.S. House, partly because of outstanding votes in California races, Alexander said. Two years earlier, it took nine days. In 2020, it took the AP seven days to determine that Democrats would retain the House, she said. Each time, outcomes in California swing districts played a decisive role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re creating a window of opportunity for people to make these claims,\u201d Alexander said, referring to largely unfounded claims of systemic voter fraud and election rigging. \u201cWe have to acknowledge that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow panelists defended California\u2019s meticulousness as crucial to its election integrity. Assemblymember Gail Pellerin<\/a>, Democratic chair of the Assembly elections committee and former Santa Cruz County registrar of voters, argued that county officials need time to verify voters\u2019 signatures on vote-by-mail envelopes \u201cso people don\u2019t get disenfranchised for penmanship or for failure to sign.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing in law that says, I need to meet your deadline,\u201d Pellerin said of media outlets and journalists who are eager to call races on election night. \u201cWhat the law says is that I need to count the votes accurately, securely. I need to check them, and double-check them, and audit them, and then I certify them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Barreto, director of the UCLA Voting Rights Center, noted that counties have 30 days post-election to certify their results and submit them to the secretary of state. That process, he said, should be completed as quickly as possible but \u201cnot at the expense of the county registrars doing their job effectively to make sure every vote is counted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catharine Baker, head of the UC Center, emphasized \u2014 pointedly to Pellerin \u2014 that counties need more money to make sure they\u2019re sufficiently staffed and have the equipment they need to count efficiently.<\/p>\n

They all agreed that voters can do one thing to speed up the count: turn in their mail ballots early so counties can process them before election day.<\/p>\n

Large partisan divide over election integrity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

California voters are highly polarized in their views on the status of democracy in their state and country, largely along party lines.<\/p>\n

A new survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found a third of Democrats said they are \u201cextremely satisfied\u201d or \u201cvery satisfied\u201d with the way democracy works in California, while only 4% of Republicans said they felt that way. Conversely, more than two-thirds of Republicans are not satisfied at all, compared to 10% of Democrats. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n