California's Vote County Was Painfully Slow. Can This Proposal Speed It Up For November?

In nan aftermath of a painfully slow June ballot count successful California that led to unfounded claims of predetermination irregularities, a elector watchdog group Monday recommended nan authorities and counties transportation retired a number of voting reforms that could velocity up tabulations. Not each of them, however, are apt to hap earlier November.

The California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit group pinch a ngo is to amended nan predetermination process for voters, issued a report pushing for respective changes to nan ballot signature curing process: nan state, it said, should shorten nan ballot letter cover signature curing timeline from 22 to 14 days, grow elector entree to and consciousness of physics ballot signature curing and person nan authorities cod and people broad signature curing data.

The group besides urged nan authorities to alteration astir adjacent races to beryllium “called” by nan Friday aft Election Day and fto counties, successful highly adjacent contests, prioritize counting those ballots first. The state, it said, should besides supply section predetermination offices pinch further backing to alteration them to velocity up ballot processing, amended its nationalist reporting of unofficial predetermination results pinch clearer terminology and real-time updates, and pass voters they tin thief by returning vote-by-mail ballots earlier aliases voting successful person.

“California doesn’t person to take betwixt an accessible, unafraid predetermination strategy and timely results,” Kim Alexander, president of nan California Voter Foundation, said successful a statement. “Our investigation shows we tin combat nan agelong ballot count while preserving — and successful immoderate cases strengthening — nan protections that make California elections accessible and trustworthy.”

Alexander told The Times that 2 of nan California Voter Foundation’s 10 recommendations — providing predetermination officials pinch much backing and informing voters that they tin thief by voting earlier aliases successful personification — are already underway.

Four much recommendations — expanding elector entree to and consciousness of physics ballot signature curing, acquiring signature curing data, prioritizing adjacent races to beryllium counted first, and improving nationalist reporting of unofficial results — she said could beryllium implemented by November. (Prioritizing adjacent races to beryllium counted first is not a feasible alteration astatine nan authorities level, Alexander said, but region boards of supervisors could petition it of their predetermination offices earlier November.)

Some of nan group’s cardinal recommendations are improbable to return spot earlier November. Shortening nan ballot curing window, Alexander said, would apt require a broader chat pinch predetermination stakeholders and is contingent connected location being wide elector entree to physics signature curing options, which are not successful spot yet.

Enabling astir adjacent races to beryllium “called” by nan Friday aft Election Day by providing much precise information connected unprocessed ballots successful those contests, Alexander said, is besides not apt to hap by November. Many section predetermination officials reason nan idea, she said, because it takes distant from clip they could beryllium spending processing ballots.

“We included it to statesman nan discussion,” Alexander said, noting that for immoderate counties making precise information disposable connected unprocessed ballots would not beryllium arsenic dense a assistance because they already benignant their ballots by precinct earlier processing.

After nan June superior election, California elections officials were criticized for taking astir a week to find which gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral candidates would beforehand to November’s runoff. The delays caused galore to mobility why California, which has instituted a bid of reforms successful caller years designed to make voting easier and safer, lags down different states successful counting results.

The slow count was utilized by immoderate connected nan correct —including President Trump — to sow unfounded doubts astir nan results.

According to nan report, nan stock of California’s ballots counted wrong 2 days of Election Day dropped from 81% successful 2004 to 66% successful 2024, pinch a flimsy uptick betwixt 2022 and 2024.

Even if California follows its recommendations, nan study said, nan authorities will apt return longer than different states to count predetermination results, because of its size and steps it has taken successful caller years to make voting much accessible and secure. “However,” it said, “aiming to return to a position wherever nan outcomes of astir contests are known by nan extremity of Election Week is simply a realistic goal.”

Voters tin besides thief velocity up nan predetermination count, nan study said, by voting successful personification aliases returning vote-by-mail ballots earlier — ideally nan Saturday earlier nan election.

“Every elector has a domiciled to play successful accelerating nan elector count,” Alexander told The Times.

“Our proposal is if you want to return arsenic overmuch clip arsenic possible, move successful your ballot astatine a voting tract connected predetermination day,” she said, noting successful nan mostly of counties voters tin formed a mail-in ballot arsenic an in-person ballot. “If they tin return nan other clip to besides formed it arsenic an in-person ballot, that’s moreover better.”

Under nan existent system, each California elector receives a mail-in ballot and it is counted arsenic agelong arsenic nan letter cover is postmarked by Election Day and it arrives astatine an predetermination agency wrong 7 days of that date.

Voters who want to ballot by message should not dangle excessively overmuch connected nan 7 time grace period, Alexander said. She urged voters to message their ballot a week earlier predetermination time aliases return it to a station agency and inquire for it to beryllium manus postmarked to debar moving nan consequence of nan ballot not getting postmarked by predetermination day,

Data from nan Secretary of State’s office show that 148,241mail-in ballots were rejected successful this year’s June superior election, balanced to 1.73% of each message ballots received. The largest stock of rejected message ballots — 93,479 ballots — were rejected because nan ballot was not received connected time. An further 43,977 ballots were rejected because they had a non-matching signature.

Alexander noted that successful December 2025, nan U.S. Postal Service added a caller section to its Domestic Mail Manual, noting that a postmark’s day “does not inherently aliases needfully align pinch nan day connected which nan Postal Service first accepted possession of nan mailpiece.” This “lack of alignment,” it noted, “has and will go much common” owed to caller work changes.

“The nationalist tin nary longer presume that a portion of message dropped successful a mailbox earlier postulation clip connected a circumstantial time will beryllium postmarked that aforesaid day,” Alexander said. “If you’re accustomed to taking advantage of nan grace play and dropping disconnected your ballot successful nan mailbox connected predetermination day, you guidelines a bully chance of your ballot not getting postmarked by predetermination day.”