Mail-in Ballots and Legal Deadlines Contribute to Delays

An estimated 80% of California votes are cast by mail, though these ballots must be sorted, validated, and counted. Mail-in ballots are valid as long as they are posted by election day and arrive to county election offices by 9 June, the day before they are certified by the state’s election authority.

Trump Criticizes Delays, Claims ‘Big Cheating’

On election night, California Secretary of State Shirley N Weber confirmed the delayed results are “normal” and called on all Californians “to be patient”, despite US President Donald Trump’s claims of “BIG cheating” in the deeply liberal state.

Trump has claimed that Democrats are “trying to steal” elections in the state due to the delay in finalised results; Mail-in voting has long irked the president, who repeatedly claimed without proof that the 2020 US election against President Joe Biden was “stolen” from him. In April. He signed an executive order to limit the practise by creating lists of US citizens who are eligible to vote in each state, but Experts and critics have said he lacks the authority to do this.

The president has also claimed that federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are investigating votes cast, but California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has said on social media that Trump is “lying about California again.” A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles declined to comment on Trump’s remarks when contacted by the BBC.

Early Results and the “Jungle Primary” System

Initial results from Tuesday night included early mail-in, early in-person and day-of ballots, and those results indicate that British-American former TV host Steve Hilton, a Republican vying for governor, has the lead. Trump took to social media on Wednesday to congratulate Hilton “on coming in first” in the crowded gubernatorial race.

According to the Associated Press. An estimated 56% of votes have been counted on Thursday. Hilton holds 27.6% (1.42m) of the vote, while his Democrat rivals – Biden cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer – have 25.6% (1.32m) and 19.8% (1.02m) of the vote, respectively.

In California, the state’s “jungle primary” system picks the two contenders with the most votes to proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation, but Dozens of Democrat hopefuls jumped into the crowded field to replace Newsom, who has reached his term limit.

Los Angeles County. Which includes the city of Los Angeles, is home to nearly 6 million registered voters – a number that exceeds the voting population in 41 US states. It is the most populous county in the country and Los Angeles is the second most populous city in the US.

Vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before election day and received within seven days after the election, as well as any provisional ballots cast, must still be counted, the California secretary of state said. County elections officials will report the results for most ballots by 15 June, nearly a fortnight after the 2 June election.

“California elections officials prioritise the right to vote and election security over rushing the vote count. We have a process that by law ensures both voting rights and the integrity of elections, so I would call on all Californians to be patient,” Weber said in a statement on election night.