Tipsheet
Premium

So, How's It Going on Improving California Elections?

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 19, 2025 5:15 PM

California, with nearly 40 million people, is the most populous state in the nation, as we often hear when the state touts the rest of the United States needs it to be part of the union. That's not enough of an excuse as to why its voting system is such a disaster, though. The Golden State isn't a battleground state for presidential or U.S. Senate races, and thank goodness for that, if we wanted to find out the results of such races sooner than weeks after Election Day. Many of the state's 52 congressional districts are swing districts, though. Regardless, it's key to fix California's election methods to restore trust and faith in the system. How receptive has California been to that?

In late April, as we covered at the time, the Committee on House Administration held a hearing examining California's voting practices, "Why the Wait? Unpacking California’s Untimely Election Counting Process." Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI), as well as many of the guests called by the majority, highlighted some stunning details about the system, from how it took until December 4 – close to a month after Election Day in 2024 – for the Associated Press to call all races, to a universal mail-in ballot system and the fact that voters can send their ballots in seven days after the election, to a 28-day curing period.

The hearing was also notable for how the last House member to speak, Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), used her time to applaud California's system and rant and rave about President Donald Trump and his administration, including Elon Musk, who was assisting at the time. It's worth noting that even Ranking Member Joe Morelle (D-NY) acknowledged during the hearing that California could take steps to speed up elections.

Following that hearing, Torres wasn't the only one to take issue with suggestions to improve the vote count in our nation's largest state. Days later, on May 2, The Sacramento Bee reported on Secretary of State Shirley Weber's warnings about the costs involved, with the California Voter Foundation reposting the piece to its website.

As the piece mentioned regarding Weber's disdain:

Recommended

Karoline Leavitt Has a Message for Jasmine Crockett's Latest Line of Attack Over 'Mental Illness' Rebecca Downs
Ilhan Omar Forced to Delete Post on Juneteenth Rebecca Downs

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber is pushing back against efforts to speed up the state’s notoriously slow vote count.

Some close congressional races – and control of the U.S. House – hung in the balance for more than a week after the November election as California elections officials worked their way through mountains of mail-in ballots.

The drawn-out count drew criticism from across the country, from Republicans and Democrats alike. New federal and state proposals would require most ballots be counted within 72 hours and 10 days, respectively.

Weber said they’re “arbitrary decisions” that conflict with other election mandates lawmakers have set.

“The Legislature itself places on us a tremendous responsibility,” Weber said in an interview with The Bee. “It says to us: we want you to count every ballot. We want you to do it fast. So then it becomes very complicated,” especially in large voting jurisdictions like Los Angeles, where nearly 4 million ballots were processed during the 2024 election.

"The federal proposal was introduced by Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, and would require states to count 90% of their ballots within 72 hours of polls closing. Weber said it would conflict with a state law that allows up to a week for mail-in ballots to arrive at an elections office," the report also mentioned, when it comes to a plan in place.

In California, a proposal to speed up the process came from a Democrat, though. "The slow count 'can frustrate the public and provide an opportunity for bad actors to sow doubt about election results,' said Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, the author of the legislative proposal to speed it up," the piece added.

Now, Weber is speaking out once more about efforts to speed up the vote count. "What would 'faster vote counting' actually cost?" Weber's post asked, putting "faster vote counting" in scare quotes for some reason. "Faster counting doesn’t increase accuracy—it only makes it more costly," her post continued, without evidence.

An image shared in the post with an official seal in the left-hand corner also seeks to fearmonger about the cost. "To speed up the counting of ballots that arrive after Election Day and deliver a full same-day tally, one California county alone would need to expand to 950 polling places, driving costs upwards to $110,000 per election," that image read. In smaller text is that same warning that Weber posted, "Faster counting doesn’t increase accuracy—it only makes it more costly."

It's worth mentioning that a simple solution would be to not allow mail-in ballots to arrive after Election Day, let alone up to seven days later, with the universal system in the state.

Weber's post has restricted replies, as it appears she does for all of her posts. Nevertheless, there have been fewer than 100 likes in the more than 24 hours since it was posted, and far more quoted replies.

Among those taking issue with Weber's stance is our own Guy Benson, as he and others pointed out how the state has had no problem wasting millions or even billions on other such projects, including a bus stop shelter and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's "train to nowhere," which the previous Biden-Harris administration was willing to help fund with taxpayer dollars, but the Trump administration is reviewing. Another user, Laura Powell, took issue with Weber being able to restrict replies for her posts.