CVF in the News

Fight over voting machines

By Sameea Kamal, Cal Matters, February 28, 2023

Excerpt:

Advocacy groups are urging Shasta County supervisors to reconsider their decision to end the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems, which provides equipment to mark and count ballots. The nonpartisan groups say the county’s termination without an alternative so close to the March 2024 presidential primary could have dire consequences on how the election is run and how accessible it is, and could further undermine voter confidence.

Dominion’s voting machines became a target of election deniers following the 2020 election. A review by the federal cybersecurity intelligence agency found there were no instances of the machines being exploited for election fraud purposes. The company is also suing Fox News for $1.6 billion, alleging defamation in the network’s airing of false fraud claims following the election.

What’s Next For Shasta County Voting? Hand Counting, Supervisor Jones Says.

By Annelise Pierce, Shasta Scout, February 26, 2023

Excerpt:

Shasta County Supervisor and Board Chair Patrick Jones has placed the County’s voting process on the agenda again for this Tuesday, February 28.

He hopes other Supervisors will like his idea to transition the County to an elections process that would involve hand counting the vote.

“We’re a small County and (hand counting) is definitely possible,” Jones told Shasta Scout by phone last week, “And it’s going to be a lot cheaper than what we were doing before.”

What the County has been doing is using machines to electronically tabulate votes. It’s how elections are conducted all across California, but it worries Jones, who believes electronic voting machines are susceptible to outside manipulation.

Millions of California ballots were simply unused, not ‘unaccounted for,’ experts say

By Jeff Cercone, Politifact, January 26, 2023

A conservative group opposed to mass voting by mail is using millions of unused ballots in California – one of eight states that conducts all-mail elections — to make a misleading claim.

A recent report by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a group that has been critical of mail voting, said that in California, there were "10 million mail ballots unaccounted for" in the November midterm election.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation is chaired by Cleta Mitchell, who, as a lawyer for former President Donald Trump’s campaign, was on the phone with Trump when he asked Georgia’s secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in that state.

The report was cited in headlines and articles on several conservative media sites, including Breitbart, The Daily Signal and The Epoch Times.

Ballot counting takes a long time — and that's a good thing

By Alexander Nguyen, KPBS, November 29, 2022

Excerpt:

The midterm election was three weeks ago, but as of Monday evening, there were a projected 8,700 outstanding ballots left to count.

By law, the county Registrar of Voters (ROV) has 30 days to certify an election — that's a little more than a week away.

Delays such as this are not unusual, California Voter Foundation president and founder Kim Alexander said. Her organization works to improve the voting process.

A victory for U.S. democracy

By Vanessa Tucker, Hewlett Foundation, November 21, 2022

Excerpt:

It is typical for post-election readouts to focus on politics: who’s up, who’s down, what did the polls tell us, what’s going to happen next. Those are pertinent questions following the recent midterms, the results of which will undoubtedly have important consequences for policy and governance in the U.S. and beyond. But there is arguably a bigger story here than which party won: namely, that the 2022 midterms were a huge victory for the U.S. electoral system and the countless dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to bolster and improve U.S. elections.

How California could count every vote faster

By Alexei Koseff And Sameea Kamal, Cal Matters, November 17, 2022

Excerpt:

For more than a week after the Nov. 8 election, control of the U.S. House of Representatives remained undetermined. All eyes had turned to more than half a dozen uncalled races in California when, on Wednesday, the Associated Press projected victory for Rep. Mike Garcia in his Los Angeles-area district, finally handing Republicans a slim majority in the new Congress.

As tense days ticked by without resolution, political pundits across the country once again lamented why the vote count takes so long in California, while conservatives resurfaced concerns that late-arriving ballots and slow results exposed Democratic efforts to steal close races.

In reality, the extended count, which will take a month to finish, is a consequence of California’s shift to overwhelmingly voting by mail, a convenience that requires several additional steps of verification by local officials once ballots arrive.

Why is California still counting Election Ballots

By Soumya Karlamangla, New York Times, November 16, 2022

Excerpt:

The election was over a week ago, but we’re still anxiously awaiting the results of several key races.

The winner of the tight contest for Los Angeles mayor has yet to be determined, and more than three dozen state legislative races remain undecided. As of Tuesday night, six of the nine uncalled U.S. House races were in California.

Perhaps you’re wondering why the Golden State seems to take so long to count ballots. I was, too, so I asked some election experts for their insight.

I had often heard that the delay was because California is an enormous state, with nearly 22 million registered voters. But while it’s true that we have more votes to count, we also have more election workers to help guide the process along, so volume probably isn’t the primary factor.

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EXPLAINER: Why California Has So Many Votes Left to Count

By Kathleen Ronayne, Associated Press, November 16, 2022

Excerpt:

California delivered Republicans the seat they needed Wednesday to take control of the U.S. House, but just how much of an edge the GOP will have in the chamber remains uncertain as the state’s seemingly drawn-out vote count continues.

After the balance of power in Washington sat in limbo for days, Republican incumbent Mike Garcia's victory in the 27th Congressional District finally won the party its 218th seat. Five of the seven other races The Associated Press has yet to call are in California, though one is between two Democrats.

In some of those races, ballots are coming in at a trickle.

Placer County in California's 3rd Congressional District, for example, reports that it has more than 105,000 outstanding ballots. The county added just 490 votes to its totals in the district Tuesday, and it doesn't expect to report results again until Friday.

Too-close-to-call California congressional races may decide U.S. House majority

By Madisen Keavy, CBS Sacramento, November 14, 2022

Excerpt:

Too-close-to-call congressional races in California may decide power in the U.S. House of Representatives, from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority.

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan group that tracks and researches election results, has five California congressional races deemed a "toss-up" and six that are considered competitive.

Congressional District 9, between Democratic candidate Josh Harder and Republican Tom Patti, according to the Cook Political Report is leaning Democrat, which means the race is competitive but one party has an advantage.

Congressional District 13, between Democratic candidate and Assemblyman Adam Gray and Republican candidate and farmer John Duarte is dubbed a toss-up, and still too close to call.

Both Duarte and Gray were in Washington D.C. on Monday for new member orientation.

Why it could take weeks to get final L.A. election results. ‘We aren’t sitting on ballots’

By Julia Wick & Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2022

Excerpt:

An adage known as the election administrator’s prayer goes something like this: “Dear Lord, let this election not be close.”

When results are overwhelmingly clear, there are far fewer doubts about the integrity of the election process or frustrations with the procedures.

But in Tuesday’s hotly contested Los Angeles mayor’s race between Rick Caruso and Karen Bass, as well as some down-ballot contests, the results are not overwhelmingly clear. In fact, it could take weeks to determine a winner in some races.

California’s shift to mail-in balloting means that voting begins weeks before election day and tabulation continues for weeks after, meaning results can remain murky in all but the most lopsided races immediately following an election.

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