California votes can be accelerated under the new state legislation

From LatanCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

California Known slow counting of voices The process could see slight improvements next year after governor Gavin Newo signed a bill that gives the counties a softer long -time ballot of the voters.

The law, Bill 5 of assembly 5It requires the district election services to count the ballots no later than 13 days after the election day, but does not change the 30-day period for local employees to certify the results. Counties that cannot comply with the new time should cause a reason for the extension of the civil service.

“California has one of the most accessible and secure voting systems in the country,” says the author of the bill, a member of the Assembly Mark BermanDemocrat from Menlo Park, in a statement. “One of the opportunities to improve was to accelerate how quickly we count the ballots and create a system that gives more public security to the public when the results will be available.”

Voter’s outrage is rare, is usually found in isolated cases and is usually detected. However, local election officials have received more high control across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies challenged false claims for election fraud after the 2020 election.

Local California officials have launched social media campaigns to explain and show voters how to process their ballots.

Legislators suggest that the new law, which has received bilateral support in the state legislative body, will help to activate misinformation, as some Republicans become increasingly notherent than postal newsletters.

Proponents such as the non -profit Foundation in California said it would increase the public confidence in the elections and avoid sworn before they were certified by their competitions, which was the case with a number of state legislators last year.

The Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s service opposed the bill.

Timothy Cromarts, Weber Spokesman, said in Senate Elections and Committee on Constitution Amendments Earlier this year, there was concern that 13 days would not be enough time for the counties currently having 30 days to complete the number. The Secretary of State offered a deadline of 15 days instead, but this was not accepted.

“As always, we will do our best to obey the laws adopted by the legislature and signed by the governor,” Weber says in a written statement.

More news ballots delay the countdown

Increasingly, the counties are found to take weeks to count the ballots due to Increasing popularity of newsletters by mailEspecially after the coronavirus pandemic. More than 80% By the voters of California, voted by the November 2024 elections, according to the Civil Service of the Secretary. This tendency is accelerated as the 2021 law requires every registered voter to receive a voter by mail.

Postal newsletters take more time for employees to process than votes in a selective place because of the necessary steps for employees to check the signatures and to confirm that the voters have no longer thrown voting anywhere else. The state also allows the ballots to be reported on postage stamps, even if they arrive up to a week later. These newsletters will not be subject to the 13-day period, neither temporary newsletters or ballots there will be no signatures of voters.

It is not possible to know how long it took to cities to count all their ballots in the last election because of a state law, which prohibits them from certifying results earlier than 28 days after election day, Kim Alexander, President of the California Election Foundation, said in email.

“Historically, some counties are more fits than others. This is related to a number of factors – space, equipment, staff,” Alexander said.

Some counties in California, such as Los Angeles, may take nearly a month to count the election results, as it was last year in the 22nd Congress County in South California, which was eventually won by Democratic Representative Derek Tran. Experts largely attribute the size of California and the widespread use of newsletters by mail as a reason.

Los Angeles County officials say the new law will change a little about how they are processing ballots.

“We have always processed ballots much earlier than the date signed in the law. We are not particularly concerned about this 13-day requirement,” said Mike Sanchez, spokesman for Los Angeles County. “It may look more ceremonial than anything else.”

Election workers said public communications calling for voters to be dropped or sent by the newsletters by the newsletters, they could soon speed up the process.

Newsom too the signature Billl This prohibits voters from being paid to register to vote in response to the millions of dollars that billionaire Elon Musk distributed for registered voters in Swing States during the 2024 election. Another legislation that he signed Plan a vote measure For the 2026 election, allow voters to decide whether taxpayers can be used for political campaigns.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.