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Sacramento, Calif.– California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., is reminding Californians that, while Election Day has passed, the vote count process will continue for up to 30 days after the election.
“Doing it right takes precedence over doing it fast,” Secretary Weber said. “The time taken to process ballots ensures voters’ rights and the integrity of the election. California is committed to protecting voting rights and has put several guardrails in place to protect those rights, including same day voter registration, provisional ballots, and the postmark-plus-seven days rule for vote-by-mail ballots.”
By law, county elections officials have 30 days to verify voter signatures to determine eligibility, count votes, conduct a post-election audit, and report results to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State has up to 38 days after the election to certify the results.
Election results will change throughout the canvass period as vote-by-mail ballots, provisional ballots, and other ballots are processed. The frequency of updated results will vary based on the size of each county and the process each county elections office uses to tally and report votes.
County elections officials must report their final results to the Secretary of State by December 5. The Secretary of State will certify the results by December 13, 2024.
More information about the ballot counting process can be found at sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/vote-counting-process.
The full November 5, 2024, General Election Calendar can be found at elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2024-primary/section-08-general-election-calendar.pdf.