California’s vote count was painfully slow. Can this proposal speed it up for November?

After California’s June vote count was painfully slow and led to false claims of election irregularities, a voter watchdog group on Monday recommended the state and counties implement a series of voting reforms that could speed up tabulation. But all of this is unlikely to happen before November.

The California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit group whose mission is to improve the election process for voters, released a statement. report He is pushing for several changes to the ballot signature curation process: The state should shorten the curation period from 22 days to 14 days, expand voter access and awareness of electronic ballot signature curation, and the state should collect and publish comprehensive signature curation data, he said.

The group also called on the state to allow most close races to be held by the Friday after election day and to allow counties to prioritize having those votes counted first in extremely close races. He said the state should also provide additional funding to local election offices to enable them to expedite voting, improve public reporting of unofficial results with clearer terminology and real-time updates, and inform voters that they can help by returning mail ballots sooner or voting in person.

“California does not have to choose between an accessible, secure election system and on-time results,” Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, said in a statement. “Our research shows we can combat lengthy vote counting while preserving — and in some cases strengthening — the protections that make California elections accessible and reliable.”

Alexander told The Times that two of the California Voter Foundation’s 10 recommendations — providing more funding for election officials and encouraging voters to vote earlier or in person — are important. already in progress.

He said four more recommendations — increasing voter access and awareness of electronic ballot signature improvement, obtaining signature improvement data, prioritizing close races to be counted first and improving public disclosure of unofficial results — could be implemented by November. (Alexander said prioritizing close races isn’t a workable change at the state level, but county boards of supervisors could request it from election offices before November.)

Some of the group’s key recommendations are unlikely to materialize before November. Shortening the ballot curation window will likely require broader discussion with election stakeholders and is contingent on ensuring broad voter access to electronic signature curation options that are not yet available, Alexander said.

Providing more accurate data on unprocessed ballots in those contests, allowing most close races to be held the Friday after election day, is also unlikely to happen until November, Alexander said. Many local election officials oppose the idea because it reduces the time they have to spend processing ballots.

“We included this to start the discussion,” Alexander said, noting that for some counties, providing accurate data on unprocessed ballots would not be such a burden because they sort ballots by precinct before they are processed.

After the June primary, California election officials were criticized for taking nearly a week to determine which election to hold. governor’s And mayor of los angeles candidates will participate in the second round of elections in November. The delays have led many to question why California, which has implemented a series of reforms in recent years to make voting easier and more secure, is lagging behind other states in counting results.

The slow count has been used by some on the right, including President Trump, to cast unfounded doubts on the results.

According to the report, the share of votes counted within two days of election day in California dropped from 81 percent in 2004 to 66 percent in 2024; There was a slight increase between 2022 and 2024.

Even if California followed its recommendations, it would likely take longer than other states to count election results because of the state’s size and the steps it has taken in recent years to make voting more accessible and secure, the report said. “However, aiming to return to a situation where the outcome of most contests is known by the end of Election Week is a realistic goal.”

Voters can help speed up the election count by voting in person or returning mail ballots earlier (ideally on the Saturday before the election), the report said.

“Every voter has a role to play in expediting the voter count,” Alexander told The Times.

“Our recommendation, if you want to take as much time as possible, is to turn in your ballot at a polling place on election day,” he said, noting that in most counties voters can vote in person by mail-in ballot. “If they could take extra time to use it as in-person voting as well, that would be even better.”

Under the current system, every voter in California receives a ballot by mail, which is counted as long as the envelope is postmarked by election day and arrives at the election office within seven days of that date.

Alexander said voters who want to vote by mail shouldn’t rely too heavily on the seven-day grace period. He urged voters to mail their ballots or take them to the post office a week before election day and request that they be hand postmarked to eliminate the risk of their ballots not being mailed until election day.

Data from California secretary of state It shows 148,241 mail ballots were rejected in this year’s June primary; This amounts to 1.73% of all postal votes received. The largest share of rejected mail ballots (93,479 votes) were rejected because ballots were not received on time. An additional 43,977 ballots were rejected because the signatures did not match.

Alexander, U.S. Postal Service in December I added a section The Domestic Postal Guide states that the date of a postmark “is not inherently or necessarily compatible with the date on which the Postal Service first acknowledged ownership of the piece of mail.” This “lack of compliance” “has become more prevalent and will become more prevalent” due to recent service changes, he said.

“The public can no longer assume that a piece of mail dropped into a mailbox before pickup time on a particular day will be postmarked the same day,” Alexander said. “If you are used to taking advantage of the grace period and leaving your ballot in the mailbox on election day, there is a good chance your ballot will not be mailed on election day.”