In California, more than a third of ballots from Tuesday’s election have yet to be counted, holding up results for the state’s billionaire tax initiative as well as various local races in the state.
California normally draws attention — and plenty of criticism — for its protracted vote count. But this election, the state’s uncalled races won’t factor into the balance of power in Congress after Democrats won both houses Tuesday in dominant fashion. And far more attention has been paid to Mississippi and Alaska, where Senate races are so tight that Americans are following daily updates.
In California, there were about 4.8 million ballots left to tally statewide as of Thursday evening, roughly 35 percent of the 13.7 million cast in Tuesday’s election, according to the California secretary of state’s office. Remarkably, some counties, including Sacramento, Riverside and Napa, had more ballots left to count than they had already tallied since Tuesday.
The reasons for California’s slow count are explained after each election. California relies heavily on mail balloting, which delays the tally because of the labor-intensive work it takes to check signatures, open envelopes and inspect ballots before counting them. The state also accepts mail-in ballots up to seven days after polls close as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.
California’s leaders take pride in a deliberate process that is meant to make voting easy while keeping elections secure, they say.
Still, the slow vote count in California has delayed results in pivotal contests once again. It wasn’t until Thursday that The Associated Press called the Los Angeles mayor’s race for Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist, over the incumbent, Karen Bass.
And The A.P. is still waiting for more results before calling the billionaire tax initiative, which would impose a one-time wealth tax on individuals and trusts with more than $1 billion in assets. The measure is currently trailing.
Five of the state’s 52 House races also have yet to be called. Four of them are intraparty battles that will not affect the final House makeup, but the fifth is in the 23rd Congressional District, where Representative Jay Obernolte, a Republican, is locked in an unexpectedly tight contest with Tessa Lynn Hodge, a Democrat.
California gives counties 30 days from Election Day to count all ballots and certify the results.
It’s unclear how long it will take for all of the races to be called. Dozens of counties are expected to issue updated results on Friday afternoon.
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