California Still Has 3.6 Million Primary Ballots to Count as Tight Governor, L.A. Mayor Races Hang
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jun 5
California Still Has 3.6 Million Primary Ballots to Count as Tight Governor, L.A. Mayor Races Hang
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jun 5
Summary
An estimated 3.6 million ballots remained uncounted statewide as of 6 p.m. Thursday, leaving several California primary contests unresolved days after the election.
About 5.6 million ballots have already been processed, but vote-by-mail ballots — many still arriving within the legal window — require signature checks and other verification that slow the tally.
L.A. County illustrates the bottleneck: roughly 1.4 million ballots have been counted there, while about 700,000 still await processing in the state’s largest voting jurisdiction.
Election experts said the delay reflects accuracy safeguards rather than fraud, noting that close Southern California races can be decided by tiny margins and may take several more days to call.
Counties must report updated unprocessed-ballot totals daily until the count is complete, with the still-unsettled governor’s race and Los Angeles mayoral primary among the biggest tests.