California Secretary of State Shirley Weber held a press briefing to provide updates on the state’s vote counting process following last week’s election.
Weber explained that California has specific protocols that require several weeks to finalize counts to ensure each vote is validated.
“With our first count from all 58 counties expected on Dec. 6, we will verify the results and officially certify them by Dec. 13,” she said during the Thursday briefing, adding that while media outlets may predict winners, California officials solely report verified numbers.
Weber outlined California’s methods for counting votes in the nation’s most populous state. This year’s turnout is expected to reach close to 71% of the state’s registered voters, which would be down from nearly 81% of California’s registered voters who participated in the 2020 presidential election.
“With California’s vast voting base — 22.5 million registered voters and nearly 84% of eligible citizens registered — the responsibility to ensure each ballot is accurately counted is paramount,” she said.
Weber said that at this stage, approximately 14.236 million ballots have been processed, and the state anticipates an additional 1.856 million votes to be counted, potentially bringing the total to over 16 million votes cast in this election.
In the 2020 presidential election, there were 17.8 million votes cast, a state record. That was 3 million more votes than the previous record set during the 2016 general election.
The multi-step vote tabulation process includes measures like signature verification and ballot curing, where individual voters are contacted by their county registrar’s office if their ballot is unverified or damaged.
“We do our best to find voters if they made an error on their ballot or failed to sign it. We want every eligible vote to count, even if it requires additional verification,” she said.
California’s expansive mail-in voting system adds to the time required for vote tabulation. Each mailed ballot undergoes a signature check to confirm it was cast by the appropriate registered voter.
Weber also described California’s unique 1% manual tally, a procedure that involves hand-counting a random 1% of all ballots to ensure the integrity of machine counts.
As California moves through its final stages of vote counting, Weber expressed pride in the state’s rigorous approach.
“We may not be the fastest in announcing final results, but our mission is clear: every vote counts, and every eligible voter deserves that assurance,” she said.