As Californians cast their ballots to decide the future of the nation's congressional districts, some say trust in the process has never been more important. On this Giving Day, KTVU spoke with the president and founder of the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, to discuss how her foundation helps voters cut through confusion and misinformation.

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California’s famously slow vote-counting process could see slight improvements next year after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that gives counties an earlier deadline to tally voters’ ballots.

The law, Assembly Bill 5, requires county election offices to count ballots no later than 13 days after election day, but does not change the 30-day deadline for local officials to certify results. Counties unable to meet the new deadline must give a reason for an extension to the secretary of state’s office.

“California has one of the most accessible and secure voting systems in the country,” said the bill’s author, Assemblymember Marc Berman, a Menlo Park Democrat, in a statement. “One opportunity for improvement was to speed up how quickly we count ballots and create a system that gave greater certainty to the public for when results would be available.”

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber is pushing back against efforts to speed up the state’s notoriously slow vote count.

Some close congressional races – and control of the U.S. House – hung in the balance for more than a week after the November election as California elections officials worked their way through mountains of mail-in ballots.

The drawn-out count drew criticism from across the country, from Republicans and Democrats alike. New federal and state proposals would require most ballots be counted within 72 hours and 10 days, respectively.

Weber said they’re “arbitrary decisions” that conflict with other election mandates lawmakers have set.

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California takes longer to count election ballots than just about any other state. This has some lawmakers looking for ways to speed up the state’s often-criticized tally process. 

Democratic Assemblymember Marc Berman of Palo Alto believes his Assembly Bill 5 is a good start.

“My goal is to establish a framework where we can say, ‘Okay 95% of ballots will be counted by X day,’ Berman explained.“And the results from counting that 95% will probably give us the winners and losers in 98% of the races across the state.” 

Berman, who used to chair the Assembly Elections Committee, said this would provide much needed certainty for the public, elections officials, and candidates.