California Warns 25% Late Ballots Could Fuel Election Lies in 2026 Primary

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 3

Days or weeks of counting could delay results in California’s primary, where officials fear slow returns in tight races will give false fraud claims room to spread.
More than 25% of the state’s 2024 vote arrived after election day, and experts say that share may rise as voters waited to see which gubernatorial candidates could reach the top two.
The backlog stems from ballot-by-ballot checks on signatures, duplicate voting and missing-envelope fixes across 58 counties, safeguards officials say protect accuracy but slow reporting.
Republicans have tied the delays to broader rigging claims, while Democrats and voting groups argue the real problem is underfunded election offices facing faster legal deadlines without new money.
Los Angeles shows the tradeoff is not fixed: after opening a $10 million processing facility, it had counted 96.9% of ballots one week after the 2024 election, up from 77% in 2022.

Sources

Left67%

Center33%

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5 Sources

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Is California’s painstaking vote count a security feature to be praised, not a bug to be fixed?

Counting Every Vote: California’s 2026 Primary and the High-Stakes Battle Over Election Security

Overview

California’s 2026 primary election, held on June 3, is a major test for the state’s voting system. The vote counting process is already underway and is expected to take a long time, mainly because California prioritizes voter access with options like universal vote-by-mail. This approach, while increasing participation, leads to a lengthy and careful verification process for each ballot. As a result, the extended timeline has become a focus for concerns about voter confidence and the spread of misinformation, making this election a crucial moment for California’s election integrity and public trust.

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