[EL] PA vote count "delays"

[Douglas Johnson]

As a Californian, I dream of having election results in "days." If the
state were a toss-up (which it obviously is not) we could go weeks without
knowing who won the Presidency (even before any recount). This November I
expect that California's election-night vote-counts will include only 50%
to 60% of ballots cast, another big chunk coming in 3-4 days after election
day and the rest (likely about 15 to 20% of ballots cast) not being
reported for two to three weeks.

In recent elections it's been about 60 to 66%, and this year LA County
starts its 'mail a ballot to everyone' effort. Given the huge increase in
provisional ballots that triggers, and California's rule that mail ballots
only need to be postmarked, not delivered, by election day, this will
significantly slow down California's already-glacial vote-counting.

November's Presidential result in California is obviously not in doubt, but
the final March primary results likely won't be confirmed until the end of
March, even if all goes well.

- Doug

Douglas Johnson
Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College
douglas.johnson at cmc.edu
310-200-2058

On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 7:28 AM Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

> “Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results could take days to count under a new
> law” <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109044>
>
> Posted on January 17, 2020 7:22 am <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109044>
>  by *Rick Hasen* <https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
>
> Philadelphia Inquirer
> <https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pennsylvania-2020-presidential-election-results-absentee-ballots-20200117.html>
> :
>
> *People holding their breath to see how Pennsylvania votes in the 2020
> presidential election might not want to wait up too late on election night.*
>
> *While the unofficial and more immediately available results have
> accounted for the vast majority of votes cast in years past, a new law
> <https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pa-election-reform-deal-20191023.html> means
> a significant share of ballots might not be tallied until after Election
> Day, according to county elections officials. Races with razor-thin margins
> may be too close to call for days.*
>
> *It’s an unintended consequence of changes meant to make voting more
> flexible and accessible, including by making absentee ballots available to
> everyone. Many of those mail-in ballots won’t be counted on election night
> — even in counties that used to include them in their initial results.*
>
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