California Vote Count Saga
California's prolonged vote count draws concern, but reforms face resistance in deep-blue state.
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California takes up to 30 days to finish counting votes — and that slow pace is drawing national attention. Over 91% of the state's voters used mail-in ballots in the 2022 general election, creating a massive paper backlog that can leave close races undecided for weeks. CalMatters reports that a 10-to-15-day "blackout period" for tight races is now routine after nearly every election.
Experts say the delay is not a sign of fraud — but it is becoming a political liability. Critics argue the waiting period fuels conspiracy theories, while defenders say speed should never come at the cost of accuracy or access.
How Mail-In Ballots Created a Counting Backlog
California's slow count traces back to a decade of policy choices. In 2016, the state passed the Voter's Choice Act, letting counties mail every registered voter a ballot. Then in 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom expanded the practice statewide during COVID-19. It became permanent law in 2021. Today, California has over 22 million registered voters — and nearly all of them get a ballot in the mail, according to the California Secretary of State.
The crunch hits hardest in the final 48 hours before polls close. "The volume of mail ballots returned in the final 24 to 48 hours is staggering," said Dean Logan, the Registrar for Los Angeles County, the largest voting jurisdiction in the U.S., according to the Los Angeles Times. Under state law, ballots postmarked by Election Day are valid even if they arrive up to seven days later — adding another wave of ballots to an already stretched system.
Signature Checks and Ballot Curing Slow the Process Further
Every mail-in envelope must have its signature compared to the voter's registration record. If they don't match, election workers must contact the voter directly — a step called "ballot curing." This process protects against fraud but takes time. California elections code requires this check for all mail ballots, and there are millions of them.
Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, told the Associated Press that "California has the most voter-friendly laws in the country, but the trade-off is a very long canvass period." Civil rights groups like the ACLU of California back the current rules, arguing that ballot curing helps marginalized voters — especially those who move often or have inconsistent signatures — stay in the process.
Weeks of Uncertainty Fuel Misinformation and Political Pressure
The delay has real national consequences. In the 2022 midterms, control of the U.S. House of Representatives was unknown for over a week as several California districts remained too close to call. Analysts at the Cook Political Report note that the "limbo" period is frequently used by partisan actors to claim that late ballot updates are fraudulent — even though they are a standard part of the count.
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher called the situation "an embarrassment" that "creates a vacuum filled by conspiracy theories." Meanwhile, the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned that slow counts — while not evidence of fraud — can be exploited by foreign influence operations seeking to undermine trust in U.S. elections.
Proposed Fixes Exist but Face a Steep Political Hill
Experts point to one clear fix: allow counties to begin processing — not counting — ballots weeks before Election Day, as Florida does. Florida requires mail ballots to arrive by Election Day and lets counties start early prep work, which is why it reports most results on election night. California has only partially adopted early processing, according to CalMatters.
There is growing interest in SB 29, a bill that would allow earlier ballot processing in California. But any move to shorten the seven-day postmark grace period faces strong resistance from the Democratic supermajority, who view such changes as a step toward voter suppression. Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber summed up the state's position plainly: "We prioritize accuracy and inclusion over speed."
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