Why does California take so long to count ballots?

President Donald Trump and his GOP allies are continuing to use California’s unfinished primary vote count to push baseless election fraud claims after Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, a Republican, slipped to third place. 

“Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!”

That came after Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman (D), overtook Pratt for second place in the city’s jungle primary, putting Raman in position to advance to the November general election along with Mayor Karen Bass (D), the incumbent.

Pratt’s early second-place standing made him a cause célèbre for election deniers falsely accusing California officials of trying to keep a Republican out of the runoff.

In fact, California’s evolving count is the predictable result of the state’s pro-voting policies, which require election officials to verify and count millions of valid ballots before certifying final results — as well as its sheer size.

California’s primary results are not final, and vote totals often change after election night as counties complete the canvass — the formal process of verifying ballots, auditing results and certifying the final count.

In Los Angeles, the shift was especially predictable. Ballots counted later in California are often mail-in ballots, and in recent elections, Democrats have been more likely than Republicans to vote by mail.

California takes longer than many states to count votes for a mix of logistical and legal reasons, from the sheer size of its electorate to the state’s rules for mail-in ballots, signature verification and voter protections that give people time to fix certain ballot issues.

Those rules can make close races look unsettled for days or weeks after election night — but they also help ensure eligible voters are not disenfranchised. And, ironically, they also help catch any illegitimate ballots that shouldn’t be counted — exactly what Trump and his allies attack the state for not doing enough on.

“California’s county elections officials are hard at work counting the millions of ballots cast by California voters for the June 2 Primary Election, ensuring accuracy and preserving the integrity of every vote,” California Secretary of State Shirley Weber said after the primaries concluded. “California State law allows up to 30 days after Election Day to complete counting, auditing, and certification, but our commitment is immediate: in California, every ballot is counted properly and every ballot is accounted for.”

Here are some reasons why California’s election results can feel more drawn-out.

California is huge

The simplest reason California takes longer than many other states to count votes is also the most obvious: It is enormous.

California has the largest electorate in the country, with more than 23 million registered voters heading into the June primary — the highest number in state history.

That means county election officials are not just tallying votes in a handful of close races. They are processing millions of ballots across 58 counties, including sprawling jurisdictions like Los Angeles County, where a single local race can involve many more voters than entire states.

Every ballot has to move through a system that includes intake, sorting, signature review, tabulation, auditing and reporting. And because California conducts elections county by county, each jurisdiction updates results on its own schedule based on staffing, equipment, ballot volume and local procedures.

“Accuracy comes before speed,” Weber added. “California is the nation’s largest voting state, with millions of ballots to process and count. Taking the time to do this work correctly protects voters’ rights and ensures the integrity of our elections. California has built a strong system that expands access, empowers voters, and ensures more Californians can fully participate in our democracy.”

In other words, a slower count is not automatically a suspicious count. It is what happens when the nation’s most populous state processes millions of ballots while following rules designed to make sure eligible voters are counted and final results are verified before they are certified.

California is a universal vote-by-mail state

California is one of eight states that sends mail-in ballots to all registered voters, and most Californians use them. In the state’s recent elections, nearly 90% of voters cast their ballots by mail.

That makes California’s count different from states where most ballots are cast in person and can be checked directly at polling places. A mail-in ballot has to go through several security steps before it can be legally counted.

Election officials must receive it, sort it, check the voter’s signature, separate the ballot from its envelope and prepare it for tabulation. That process takes time, especially because many Californians return their mail-in ballots on or just before Election Day.

That is why election night is not the end of the process in California. It is the beginning of a more detailed canvass, where county officials work through the ballots voters legally cast by mail and make sure they are eligible to be counted.

Trump has spent years attacking mail-in voting with unsupported claims of widespread fraud, and has tried to turn that hostility into policy.

In March, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to tighten citizenship verification for federal elections and change mail-in ballot procedures through the U.S. Postal Service. He has also pushed the SAVE America Act, a Republican bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote in federal elections which voting rights advocates warn could disenfranchise eligible voters.

Trump has falsely claimed the anti-voting bill would end mail-in voting and has pushed lawmakers to include sweeping mail-in voting restrictions, including a near-total ban.

California counts ballots mailed on time even if they arrive after Election Day

California does not count any ballots cast after Election Day. But it does count mail-in ballots that were cast on time and arrive later.

Under state law, mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by county election officials no later than seven days after the election. For this year’s primary, that means ballots postmarked by the June 2 primaries can still be counted if they arrive by June 9.

That rule is meant to protect voters from being disenfranchised because of postal delays after they already met the deadline to vote. It also means California’s vote totals can continue changing for days after election night, especially in close races where timely mailed ballots make up a meaningful share of the remaining count.

That practice is now before the U.S. Supreme Court in a GOP-backed case that gives the justices a chance to bar states from counting mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive afterward. A ruling against post-Election Day receipt deadlines could reshape how mail-in ballots are handled before the 2026 midterms.

California election officials must verify ballots before counting them

The most important reason California’s count continues after election night is also the clearest rebuttal to baseless fraud claims. Before a mail-in ballot is counted, election officials must verify and confirm it came from the voter it belongs to.

County officials compare the voter’s signature on the envelope with the signature already on file in the voter’s registration record. They also check that the voter is registered, that the ballot was returned on time, and that the voter did not already cast another ballot in the same election.

Those steps are especially important in a state where millions of voters cast ballots by mail. A ballot dropped off on Election Day or delivered by mail days later cannot simply be added to the total the moment it arrives. It has to be reviewed first.

Election deniers often point to later-counted ballots as if they are suspicious, but those ballots are added only after election officials complete required security checks.

The process may take longer than in states with fewer mail-in ballots, but the reason is straightforward: California does not just count ballots quickly. It must verify them first.

California lets voters fix mistakes so their votes can count

California’s process also continues after election night because the state gives voters time to fix certain ballot problems and ensure their vote can count.

For example, if a mail-in ballot is missing a signature or the signature does not match the voter’s registration record, election officials contact the voter and give them a chance to correct it.

This process is known as ballot curing, and it is designed to make sure voters are not disenfranchised because of technicalities like a missing signature or a simple mistake on their envelope.

Those ballots cannot be counted until the issue is resolved. That means some valid votes are added to the total later in the canvass, after election officials confirm the voter’s identity, eligibility and allow them to fix their ballot.

This is another place where election conspiracies routinely turn a safeguard into a suspicion.

A ballot fixed after election night is not a new vote, and it is not a vote cast after the deadline. It is a ballot that was already returned and is being counted only after the voter confirms the information needed to verify it.

The point of the process is simple: Eligible voters should not lose their vote because of a technical problem that can otherwise be easily corrected.