California Primary Results May Take Days as Millions of Late Mail Ballots Await Counting
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 2
California Primary Results May Take Days as Millions of Late Mail Ballots Await Counting
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 2
Polls close at 8 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, but California may not know key primary results for days because millions of ballots could still be outstanding.
Mail voting drives the delay: officials must verify signatures, open envelopes and prepare each ballot for tabulation, a slower process than counting in-person votes.
Initial returns will include early in-person votes and mail ballots received in the first weeks, with another update later Tuesday from Election Day vote centers.
Late-arriving envelope ballots are expected to dominate the backlog after many voters waited to decide in the volatile governor's race, extending the count later into the week.