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CLAIM: California is still counting votes more than a week after the March 5 primary, a sign the election was rigged.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. It is not unusual for California’s vote count to extend long past Election Day and there has been no indication of widespread fraud in this year’s primaries, experts told The Associated Press. Factors that contribute to this lengthy process include the large number of people who vote by mail, provisional ballots and signature verification.

THE FACTS: More than a week since Super Tuesday, social media users are erroneously claiming that California’s ongoing vote count is a sign of nefarious activities related to its March 5 primaries.

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Forget election night. Election season has been upon us for weeks, and it won’t be over anytime soon.

California’s prodigious adoption of vote-by-mail balloting has done more than fundamentally alter how we engage in the democratic process. The shift has also necessitated a cultural reconfiguration about election night results, and recast the timeline for learning outcomes in many races.

Definitive answers will likely only be clear in the most lopsided of contests by late Tuesday night. And conclusive results could take days or weeks to emerge in some of the tightest races.

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Think of it this way: When a Californian shows up at a vote center and casts a ballot in person, as was once commonplace, all the verification is done up front at the vote center. When that ballot arrives for tabulation, no extra steps are needed.

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When voters in California head to the polls on Tuesday they will find two U.S. Senate races on their primary ballots.

The races are for the same Senate seat held for three decades by Dianne Feinstein (D), who died in September. After her death, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Laphonza Butler to fill the seat until a special election could be held.

A few days after Butler was appointed to the seat, she announced she would not run for a full Senate term. That helped set off races for a rare open Senate seat in the heavily Democratic-leaning state. Dozens of people jumped at the chance to run.

Under a California law enacted in 2022, if a senator vacates their seat more than 148 days before the next regularly scheduled statewide primary, the state is required to hold a special election on the same day as the regularly scheduled primary election.

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Tuesday is the final day to cast ballots in this year’s primary election. Voters across the Bay Area will decide on key races for county supervisor seats, state offices, and a slew of measures aimed at addressing mental health, public safety and the region’s homelessness crisis. Some of the races garnering attention include a rare recall election for two San Francisco judges who have been portrayed as soft on crime. In the East Bay, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín is competing with five other candidates for a seat in the state senate. In Napa, voters will decide on three of five supervisor seats. We’ll talk about the races you’re watching and what you need to know going into the primary. (Full Audio)