How California’s Election Procedures Turn Early Leads Into Late Losses
9th June 2026
Delayed vote tallies in Calfornia are attributable to the vote-by-mail system and weeklong deadlines for receiving ballots, which undermines confidence in results, election experts say.
Tuesday is the deadline for the last of California’s ballots to arrive, where about 80% vote by mail and about 40% of ballots arrive after Election Day in the nation’s most populous state. These are among the factors that contribute to repeatedly delayed results.
On Sunday, it appeared that Republican mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt would fall out of contention for the general election after several days of appearing in the top two vote recipients along with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat. Another Democratic candidate, Nithya Raman, appeared to overtake Pratt for second place to face Bass in the general election. The state’s primaries allow the top two vote-getters, rather than party nominees, to advance to the general election.
California also doesn’t allow local jurisdictions to require voter ID, and allows 22 days for “curing” ballots. Curing is when a voter’s ballot needs to be corrected or clarified to count, such as fixing illegible marks on the ballot or inserting a missing signature on the ballot envelope.
Tim Pool explains it all to you.
Similar apparent flips have occured in previous elections in the state, including in races for the U.S. House of Representatives. On election night in 2024, Republican incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel was leading, but that lead turned into a loss days later as Democrat Derek Tran won the seat 22 days after the election.
That’s not suspicious at all. Perish the thought.
ATQUE: On the LA vote-counting process that is giving LA two leftist Democrats to choose from for mayor (The New Neo).