CVF in the News

By Angie Orellana Hernandez and Faith E. Pinho, Los Angeles Times, November 13, 2024

Excerpt:

The election is over, and no more ballots can be cast. But campaigns in tight congressional races across California are scrambling to make sure their supporters’ votes are counted.

Through the increasingly common process known as “ballot curing,” campaigns are contacting voters whose ballots were not counted because of a technicality and giving them a chance to correct their mistakes. That could mean asking them to correct their address or add their signature to an envelope they forgot to sign. 

The stakes are especially high in California’s battleground districts, where voters could determine which party will control the House of Representatives next year.

By Yue Stella Yu, Cal Matters, November 13, 2024

Excerpt:

In 2020, California Democrats lost four of the seven competitive congressional seats they had just gained amid a “blue wave” two years earlier. In 2022, Republicans gained one more seat in California and took control of the U.S. House.

This election, it is Republicans who must play defense.

From the Central Valley to southern California, Democrats are fighting to flip five GOP-held seats in the state’s most competitive contests. They are also aiming to keep a competitive seat now held by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who has narrowly won the district for three terms and is not seeking re-election this year.

By Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2024

Excerpt:

It’s been nearly a week since election day, and California is still counting ballots, imposing an agonizing wait on a nation wondering who will lead the next U.S. House of Representatives. 

It isn’t a surprise that California is taking its time to verify, process and count the ballots of its more than 22 million registered voters. 

While some might see the delay as a problem, Russia Chavis Cardenas, the voting rights and redistricting program manager for California Common Cause, called it a virtue.

“It means elections officials are doing everything they can to count every legitimate ballot fairly and accurately,” Cardenas said. 

California has an estimated 5 million ballots that still need to be counted, according to the most recent report of unprocessed ballots by the California secretary of state.

Nine of the 16 races that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives are in California. No state takes longer to tally votes.

By Soumya Karlamangla, Orlando Mayorquín and Coral Murphy Marcos, New York Times, November 11, 2024

Excerpts:

The nation is again waiting on California to finish tallying votes almost a week after Election Day.

The state has most of the remaining undecided races that will determine the balance of power in the House, and its slow vote-counting process has drawn greater scrutiny — and some scorn — as each day goes by.

While many states tallied the bulk of their ballots within hours of polls’ closing on Tuesday, California still had nearly five million to count going into this holiday weekend, just under a third of all of the ballots that were cast there.

Leaders in California, the nation’s most populous state, defend the deliberate process as necessary to ensure that the tallies are accurate and that as many voters participate as possible. They say their generous provisions for voters give the public greater confidence.

By Lynn La, Cal Matters, November 8, 2024

Excerpt:

California Democrats and their allies are battening down the hatches for Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January.

On Thursday Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a special session to prepare the state for likely legal challenges against the Trump administration, write CalMatters Capitol reporters Jeanne Kuang and Alexei Koseff. During Trump’s first term, the state sued the federal government more than 100 times, and is expected to come to blows again over regulations on reproductive rights, immigration, gun control and more.

But taking the feds to court doesn’t come cheap. The session, which will begin Dec. 2 when the new Legislature is sworn in, will mostly focus on approving funding for California’s Department of Justice and other state agencies — perhaps as much as $100 million — to file “robust affirmative litigation.” 

By Molly Burke, San Francisco Chronicle, November 5, 2024

Excerpt:

Election Day is here, and for the millions of Californians who have already voted, there are steps they can take to make sure their ballots are counted.

After researching and taking time to complete a pages-long ballot, thousands of voters statewide each election have their votes rejected for their signatures, or lack thereof. Whether you forgot to sign your ballot return envelope or signed it in a way that doesn’t match previous signatures, your ballot can be fixed in the weeks after the election.

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Here is how to make sure your vote is counted.

Mail-in ballots on Election Day

For voters submitting mail-in ballots on Election Day, the safest option for making sure your vote is counted is to drop off the ballot at a voting site before they close at 8 p.m.

By Vicki Gonzalez, CapRadio, November 5, 2024

Excerpt:

Many voters might be opening their ballots for the first time, with just hours to go before polls close on Election Day. Kim Alexander is the President and Founder of the California Voter Foundation and provides some last-minute tips on filling out your ballot, as well as the importance of participating in the elections process. (Full Audio)

 

By Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle, November 5, 2024

Excerpt:

Over 7.6 million ballots were cast in California before the final days of voting, but the counting process will take days if not weeks. The uncertainty, heightened by the state’s universal mail-in voting system, may fuel doubts and conspiracy theories about election integrity. In response, state and local officials are working to reassure the public that all ballots are secure and will be counted accurately.

To enhance transparency, the California Voter Foundation launched an initiative to monitor ballot counting in seven key congressional districts, providing updates on the count and candidate margins starting Tuesday until Dec. 5. 

“We have more competitive races and narrower margins in California today than we used to,” Kim Alexander, the foundation’s president, said in a statement. “In some contests, practically every single ballot must be counted before a winner can be determined.” 

By Keith Mizuguchi, KQED, November 5, 2024

Excerpt:

It’s the final day to vote in the 2024 general election. While millions of Californians have already cast their ballots, many more will head to the polls Tuesday to vote on local measures, state propositions and our next president.

Kim Alexander, President of the California Voter Foundation, says if you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time. “Vote as early as you can. It could get busy. You are entitled under California law to take up to two hours off of work to vote. You needed to ask for that last Friday from your boss. So if you didn’t, they may not grant it, but it doesn’t hurt to ask,” Alexander said.

By Lynn La, CalMatters, November 4, 2024

Excerpt:

There are only two more days to vote in California, and more than 7.6 million Californians have cast their ballots. But the counting will last for days, if not weeks, before news outlets declare all the winners or candidates concede. 

The delays and uncertainty — which have grown since California started sending mail ballots to all voters — can sow doubts or even conspiracy theories. So state and local election officialsare trying to reassure voters that their ballots are safe against cyber and other attacks and will be counted.

To bring more transparency and build public trust in the count, the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation is launching a new project that, in seven swing congressional districts, will track how many ballots have been counted, how many ballots remain to be tallied and the margin between the two candidates. The updates will start Tuesday and end Dec. 5.

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