THIS IS NOT NEW

California's slow vote count did not start in 2020. An election attorney who testified before Congress in April 2025 confirmed she has been handling California elections since 2004 and the count has taken weeks every single time. California became the first state in the country to allow all voters to vote by mail without a reason in 1978. The slow count is the direct result of that decision made nearly 50 years ago — and every decade since, California has added more rules that make the count more thorough and slower.

In 1978 fewer than 5 percent of California voters voted by mail. Today roughly 80 to 90 percent do. The count got slower every decade as mail voting grew — through Republican administrations and Democratic ones, through elections Republicans won and elections Democrats won.

WHY IT TAKES THIS LONG

California mails a ballot to all 23 million registered voters. Most people mail it back. Before a mail ballot can be counted, a worker must check that the signature on the envelope matches the signature on file. If it does not match the county must contact the voter and give them up to 22 days to fix it. Ballots postmarked on Election Day can arrive up to seven days later and still be counted. Provisional ballots — given to voters whose registration cannot be immediately confirmed — must each be individually checked.

By law counties have 30 days to finish counting. The Secretary of State certifies the final results on July 10. A required hand count of ballots at one percent of all precincts must be completed first.

Note: California recently passed a law reducing the count window from 30 days to 13 days. Counties that need more time must explain why to the Secretary of State's Office.

That is why California is still counting. It is what the law requires.

WHY RESULTS SHIFT AFTER ELECTION NIGHT

Republicans tend to vote in person on Election Day. Democrats tend to use mail ballots. In-person ballots get counted first. So Republican candidates often lead on election night. As mail ballots are verified and counted in the days and weeks after, results shift.

This is not fraud. It is math. The votes were already cast. They are just counted in a different order.

DECADES OF EXAMPLES — BOTH PARTIES

The slow count is not a partisan phenomenon. It has been happening for decades and it has produced wins for both Republicans and Democrats.

In 2004 California's primary results took two weeks to finalize, confirmed by a Republican election attorney who handled that race and testified before Congress in 2025. No one accused anyone of fraud.

In 2010 and 2012, as California added the independent redistricting commission and the top-two primary system, races became more competitive and results took longer. Both Republicans and Democrats won close races that were not called for weeks.

In 2022, Democrat Christy Holstege attended the California Assembly's freshman orientation for newly elected members — and then found out weeks later that Republican Greg Wallis had actually won once all the ballots were counted. The slow count produced a Republican victory. No fraud claims were made.

In 2024 two of California's most-watched congressional races were not called until weeks after Election Day. Republican Michelle Steel lost to Democrat Derek Tran more than three weeks after the election. Republican John Duarte lost to Democrat Adam Gray four weeks after the election. That race was the last House seat called in the entire country. It determined the final size of the Republican majority in Congress. Republicans won 220 seats to Democrats' 215. The slow California count shaped the margin of the Republican majority.

PBS NewsHour confirmed this week that Republicans have complained about California's slow count even though the GOP did well in several close California House races in 2024.

WHAT ABOUT FRAUD?

After Tuesday's election President Trump posted on social media accusing Democrats of stealing it. The U.S. attorney for Los Angeles announced he is investigating multiple cases of alleged election fraud. Riverside County's sheriff seized 650,000 ballots earlier this year to investigate fraud claims.

Here is what the confirmed data shows.

The California Research Bureau, the nonpartisan research arm of the California state government, conducted a thorough review of voter fraud in California covering the 2020 through 2024 elections. It was presented to the California State Senate in April 2026. Here is what it found.

In five years of elections, across tens of millions of votes cast, the California Research Bureau identified exactly 10 confirmed cases of voter fraud in the entire state. Six came from every available outside source. Four more were found through the CRB's own independent search.

Here is what those 10 cases actually were. A 77-year-old man voted twice by mail and in person to prove a point about election security — he was convicted. A woman voted on behalf of her deceased mother — convicted. A city council candidate registered at the wrong address — pleaded guilty. A man submitted thousands of fraudulent voter registration applications in a mayoral scheme — convicted. A city council candidate registered at a short-term rental instead of his actual home — pleaded no contest. Four voters registered fraudulently in a city council race decided by one vote — five people including the winning candidate pleaded guilty or no contest.

Ten cases. Tens of millions of votes. Not one involved an organized effort to flip a statewide election.

Additionally, 14 separate California county grand juries reviewed elections from 2020 through 2024. Every single one found either no evidence of fraud or confirmed that the county's election system was operating with integrity. Riverside County's grand jury — the same county whose sheriff seized 650,000 ballots this year — found "no evidence of voter fraud" in its 2020 review.

A former California election official confirmed to PBS NewsHour this week: "We can't point to a single election where voter fraud changed the outcome of the election."

The current federal investigations are ongoing. Ida will report confirmed findings when they occur.

THE BOTTOM LINE

California's count takes a long time because of laws the state has been building since 1978. The same slow process has produced wins for Republicans and Democrats across five decades. The confirmed fraud data shows individual cases exist and no confirmed outcome-changing fraud has been found.

Sources: House Committee on House Administration Ashlee Titus testimony April 29, 2025 confirmed 2004 experience and 1978 no-excuse mail voting origin · California Secretary of State confirmed 30-day count, July 10 certification, signature verification, and seven-day mail window · PBS NewsHour June 2026 confirmed Republican success in 2024 California House races · CalMatters confirmed Holstege-Wallis 2022 example and competitive district history · ABC News confirmed Trump social media posts and Essayli announcement · Brennan Center May 2026 confirmed Riverside County seizure · Heritage Foundation confirmed 1,000-plus cases database and sampling description · Brookings confirmed less than one-thousandth of one percent fraud rate from Heritage data