{"id":844,"date":"2026-08-25T16:59:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/?p=844"},"modified":"2026-08-25T17:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:03:11","slug":"counting-votes-quickly-and-accurately-are-not-mutually-exclusive-heres-how-california-can-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/?p=844","title":{"rendered":"Counting votes quickly and accurately are not mutually exclusive. Here\u2019s how California can do it"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Counting votes quickly and accurately are not mutually exclusive. Here\u2019s how California can do it<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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By Don Wagner<\/strong><\/p>\n

August 25, 2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n

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California is the home of the artificial intelligence boom, smartphones and some of the most valuable technology companies on earth. We have built systems that process billions of transactions in a second, sequence a human genome overnight and operate self-driving cars. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Yet it wasn\u2019t until July 10 that the state finally certified the results of its June 2 primary election.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It took 38 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This is not a technology problem or fraud. It is a policy problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

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California\u2019s <\/span>ballot-counting delays are not a bug in the process<\/span>. The state allows county officials up to 30 days after Election Day to complete counting, auditing and certification. Mail-in ballots postmarked on Election Day can arrive at county offices up to seven days later. Counties must verify signatures on every single envelope before opening ballots. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Officials are, in the <\/span>words of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation<\/span>, essentially running two election systems simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n

The result is a state of 23 million registered voters that takes weeks to tell citizens who won an election.<\/span><\/p>\n

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When the incumbent secretary of state \u2014 initially <\/span>appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/span> \u2014 resisted timeliness and even claimed she would not sacrifice accuracy, Newsom himself <\/span>sent a letter<\/span> to all 58 county elections officials <\/span>urging them to count ballots<\/span> \u201cas quickly as possible,\u201d to prevent \u201celection lies from taking hold.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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To be clear, I am not saying California\u2019s elections are rigged. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled votes can be counted five days after Election Day if postmarked. The court\u2019s decision means that elections will continue to be administered under rules that were not designed for speed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Other states like Florida show that counting fast and accurately are not mutually exclusive. They\u2019re a function of when the law allows the work to start. Whereas California takes over a month, Florida can finish counting votes in four days.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Three changes would make a concrete difference. <\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a>Read more at CalMatters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Counting votes quickly and accurately are not mutually exclusive. Here\u2019s how California can do it By Don Wagner August 25, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"brizy-blank-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wagnerforcalifornia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}