News

Why Bay Area counties still have so many votes to count

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Almost a full day after polls closed, counties across the Bay Area still had hundreds of thousands of ballots to count — almost half of the number cast in a couple of cases.

And that’s to be expected as more and more California voters turn to mail-in ballots, which take longer to count, elections staff and experts say.

“This is the new normal,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. “We vote for a month and count ballots for a month in California.”

Polling Stations Brace for Record Number of Registered Voters

Nearly 20 million Californians are registered to vote in Tuesday's election. That's more than 78 percent of eligible voters and it's the highest number of registered voters ever in the state. Forum takes your voter registration and Election Day questions and we'll check in on how smoothly the voting process is going in the Bay Area. (31 minute audio program)

If the House comes down to California, get ready to wait

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SACRAMENTO — An election night blue wave Tuesday could slow down considerably by the time it reaches the California coast, making the rest of America wait to see who will control the House in 2019.

Forget staying up all night to find out who won congressional seats here: Strategists and campaign experts say it could take days — if not weeks — to determine victors in a series of tight and closely watched midterm races in Southern California.

5 common mistakes Californians make while voting

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —

Election Day is here. And, California voters may be making some mistakes that could disqualify their ballot.

Voters were asked to check their voter registration status and their polling sites before Tuesday so they don’t run into problems Election Day.

Kim Alexander, president of the California Voters Foundation, breaks down 5 common mistakes people make when voting:

1) Forgetting to Sign Mail-In-Ballot Envelope

How California is expanding voter access to elections

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In California, you can register to vote online. You can request a mail ballot without providing a reason. If your ballot is postmarked by Election Day, it can arrive up to three days late and still count. Starting next year, you won’t even need a stamp.

As states across the country have moved aggressively to crack down on alleged voter fraud, California has shifted rapidly in the other direction, passing landmark legislation intended to make it easier to vote and to count as many ballots as possible.

How your data is used to create the perfect midterm election ad

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It's scary how much each candidate in the upcoming midterm elections knows about you. And it's all information you've willingly given up over time.

The trove of data goes beyond voter registration information like your name, home address and date of birth. Thanks to an army of data crunchers who marry that information with data you drop at a clothing or automobile site, many candidates often have intimate knowledge of who you are and whether you're likely to support them. 

New "Proposition Song” Music Video Released!

Today a new “Proposition Song” music video was released by the California Voter Foundation (CVF), designed to give voters an informative, impartial and entertaining overview of all 11 measures on California’s ballot in just five minutes. 

The song and video can be accessed at www.calvoter.org or on YouTube at https://youtu.be/PuWd4FVuM5Q. It was recorded live on October 25 at Two Rivers Cider in Sacramento. 

Rejection of Mail-In Ballots Raises Alarm Ahead of Election

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ATLANTA (AP) — Drawing on her years of military experience, Maureen Heard was careful to follow all the rules when she filled out an absentee ballot in 2016.

She read the instructions thoroughly, signed where she was supposed to, put the ballot in its envelope and dropped it off at at the clerk’s office in her New Hampshire town. She then left town so she could return to a temporary federal work assignment in Washington, D.C.

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