California takes longer to count election ballots than just about any other state. This has some lawmakers looking for ways to speed up the state鈥檚 often-criticized tally process.
Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman of Palo Alto believes his is a good start.
鈥淢y goal is to establish a framework where we can say, 鈥極kay 95% of ballots will be counted by X day,鈥� Berman explained.鈥淎nd the results from counting that 95% will probably give us the winners and losers in 98% of the races across the state.鈥�
Berman, who used to chair the Assembly Elections Committee, said this would provide much needed certainty for the public, elections officials, and candidates.
鈥淲e won't every two years be talking about, 鈥極h my gosh, why is it taking so long to count ballots?鈥欌�� Berman added. 鈥淏ut we'll actually have some metrics and expectations for 鈥� when a certain percentage of ballots will be counted and then I do think that will strengthen our democracy."
But as this debate unfolds in the state legislature, some voting rights advocates and election officials are wondering if a speedier process could come at a cost.
California takes longer to count ballots for a reason 鈥� multiple reasons, actually. These all aim to make voting more accessible.
California鈥檚 an all vote-by-mail state, so every registered voter gets a ballot in the mail no matter what. That was established during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic .
As long as ballots are postmarked on or before election day, state law provides a seven day grace period for them to show up at county elections offices. If something doesn鈥檛 look right, like a mismatched signature, voters have until 26 days after the election to fix their ballot and still have it counted.
All these steps mean California鈥檚 vote-by-mail ballots take longer to process.
This is one reason Kim Alexander with the California Voter Foundation says the state should rethink its all vote-by-mail policy.
鈥淥ne way to accelerate the vote count is to change the ratio of ballots that are coming in as in person ballots versus vote-by-mail ballots and we can do that by trying to be a little more precise with voters when we send out those ballots,鈥� Alexander said.
But this could be a trade off.
Dr. Mindy Romero heads the Center for Inclusive Democracy. Romero is a nonpartisan researcher who doesn't take positions on bills, but said lawmakers should think hard before upending the state鈥檚 voting system.
鈥淭he vast majority of races in California were called, if not on election night, very soon after election night and so I think we also have to be talking about what are we trying to solve?鈥� Romero said.
Romero points out that tweaking the state鈥檚 vote-by-mail process would impact all 22 million voters when just a handful of races take weeks to count.
Assemblymember Berman, who introduced the bill to speed up the count, said he wants to find a way to speed up the process without rolling back measures that make voting accessible.
鈥淢y intention is not at all to speed up the count at harm to the ability for people to participate,鈥� Berman said. 鈥淭he North Star is always to have as accessible of an election system as possible.鈥�
Those tasked with counting
Natalie Adona is the Nevada County Clerk Recorder. She also serves on the board of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials. The Nevada County elections office is tucked in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
鈥淥nce you get lots of people in here and a lot of activity, observers, and, you know, sort of county workers, it does feel very cozy,鈥� Adona said as she walked around the office explaining the county鈥檚 ballot counting operations.鈥淚 think that's how they put it on those real estate websites when they say the place is small. They call it cozy.鈥�
Adona said speeding up ballot counting could mean elections offices need more personnel and space to get the job done. If that ends up being the case, she hopes the state will allocate more funding for elections officials.
But as Nevada County鈥檚 top elections official, Adona said her main priority is upholding the state鈥檚 election law and making sure that everyone who wants to vote can.
鈥淭here are a set of laws that give voters a lot of time and we can鈥檛 just bypass that,鈥� Adona said.
Adona鈥檚 heard the criticism that California takes too long to count ballots.
鈥淲hen I think about 鈥� these criticisms, I think, okay, what about the law is going to change? And what are we willing to give up as a state?鈥� Adona added.