News

How California’s early primary illustrates the state’s political inferiority complex

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California loves to talk about itself in superlatives: The nation’s most populous state. The fifth-largest economy in the world. Producer of tech titans and Hollywood blockbusters and a whole lot of fruits and veggies.

But even as it basks in its outsize economic and cultural influence, something has been gnawing at the state’s psyche. When it comes to presidential politics, we’re more backbencher than behemoth.

In Closely Watched Central Valley Congressional Elections, Some Voters Were Misled at Polls

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In two fiercely contested Central Valley congressional races in November, where long-serving Republican incumbents Jeff Denham and David Valadao both ended up losing their seats by thin margins to their Democratic challengers, some voters were confused and misinformed at the polls.

Modesto attorney Lisa Battista, who coordinated a group of volunteer election observers, said polling places in Stanislaus County ran out of pink envelopes used to separate provisional ballots on election night.

Counting California's ballots; Check your ballot status online

Hi Folks,

While the election took place nine days ago, it is far from over. Millions of California ballots still remain to be counted. Voters and election officials alike are working to correct problems with vote-by-mail envelopes that are missing voters' signatures or the signatures are mismatched. Several California contests are still too close to call. Read below for more details on the status of the vote count and what Californians can and should be doing right now to ensure their vote-by-mail ballots get counted.

California’s vote count takes a very long time. It’s set up that way

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As state election officials watch an angry President Trump and other partisan leaders slam what they claim are slow vote counts, political influence and delayed results in Florida, Georgia and Arizona elections, they have one thought: That could be California.

Days after Tuesday’s election, a handful of closely watched congressional races in California still haven’t been decided and a final count is days and possibly weeks away.

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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)

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