When will the results be final?
The final, certified election results will be ready 37 days after the polls close.
Why so long?
Under state law:
1. Local election officials have 30 days to:
a. Receive all ballots, including ballots sent by US Postal Service
which are allowed to arrive as much 7 days after the polls close, if postmarked before 8:00pm on the last day of voting
b. Examine every single ballot to:
~ Confirm the voter's registration status,
~ Verify the voter's signature on each vote-by-mail envelope,
~ Check that the person did not vote elsewhere in that same election
~ Process conditional voter registration provisional ballots
~ Hand-process any ballots that are damaged or cannot be machine-read
~ If any issue is found with a ballot, notify that voter about the issue and give them time to correct the problem
c. Audit the count
d. Certify their work
e. Get the certified results to the California Secretary of State
2. The California Secretary of State has a week after the local results are due to certify the results of the election (that’s 37 days after the polls closed on election day).