Excerpt:

More than 8 million Californians already cast their ballots just one day before the election, but even with the advantage of early voting, it's likely to take several days to determine the winner of several races.

In this election, several key races are highly competitive, with narrow margins of victory anticipated, making it a challenge to know the winners on Election Day, according to the California Voter Foundation.

And this election will be a nail-biter, since it will decide who sits in the White House and determine the balance of power in Congress.

And while the latest polls showed a landslide of support for Vice President Kamala Harris in blue California, national polling placed the presidential contest on a knife's edge. Harris and former president Donald Trump are battling down to the wire in swing states.

The New York Times reported that it was one of the closest presidential elections in the history of American politics.

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It isn't just this year, the Golden State's elections have been more competitive over the last decade.

There are several factors at play. Politicians are no longer responsible for drawing their political districts. For more than a decade now, that job has been reserved for an independent citizens' commission that shapes districts based on their communities, not for politicians' political advantages, according to the California Voter Foundation.

And these days, California's "Top Two" primary process sends just two legislative and congressional candidates to the General Election ballot regardless of party affiliation. This process has increased competition in several tight races.

Lastly, voters in a handful of congressional districts in the Central Valley and Southern California have alternated between electing Republican and Democratic candidates over the course of recent election cycles. Both the national Democratic and Republican parties have taken notice. With these districts "in play," California's congressional races that were starved for national funding in 2020 and 2022 have turned into some of the most expensive nationwide this year.

Further down the ballot, many city councils and school boards shifted elections from at-large to district-based, further contributing to tighter margins in local races.

"These changes brought more competition and narrower margins to the state's contests," the foundation said. (Full Story)