California's official election results won't be certified until July 10, according to the Secretary of State — a timeline that has drawn frustration from some voters and prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to call for a faster process.
But election officials say several factors built into state law explain why counting takes weeks.
On election night, San Diego County reported results from more than 500,000 ballots. But hundreds of thousands of additional ballots still had to be processed, verified, and counted.
California accepts vote-by-mail ballots that are postmarked by election day and arrive up to 7 days later.
There is also the ballot curing process. If a voter forgets to sign their ballot, or if there is a question about the signature, they have until June 24 to correct it. That means ballots can continue arriving and being reviewed for weeks after the election ends.
After that, election officials must still complete all remaining steps before results become official.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber addressed the lengthy timeline.
"It's hard to tell you that it's going to be any faster than before, because the returning, the actual returning ballots are already a lot less, and people are taking longer to make a decision on a ballot that is so long itself," Weber said.
The County Registrar sent this statement when asked about the lengthy time lines for a voter count:
"Our office can only speak for the County of San Diego. On election night, the Registrar’s office posted election results for over 500,000 ballots cast, with estimated outstanding ballots of over 300,000.
That estimate included known quantities of mail ballots picked up from ballot drop boxes, vote centers, and the post office. There were still outstanding mail ballots from ballot drop box locations that needed to be picked up the following day, plus ballots received from the post office that were postmarked by June 2 and received by our office within seven days.
We will continue counting every timely cast ballot received, but by law, all vote center and mail ballots must be tallied by June 15. Additional ballots will continue to be counted as they are verified, including provisional ballots and mail ballots with missing signatures. Voters have until June 24 to “cure” their signature so that their ballot can be counted. According to California Elections Code, the election must be certified by July 2, 2026."
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