By admin 
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The final day of voting in the California primary was June 2, but the California governor’s race and the L.A. mayor’s race both weren’t called until roughly one week later. The slow pace at which some California counties process votes has received criticism nationwide.
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“It’s taking so long that it leads Californians feeling anxiety and not trust the system. There needs to be a change,” said Corrin Rankin, the chair of the California Republican Party, in June.
“Absolutely we should be working to process as quickly as possible and we shouldn’t delay in getting election results out,” said L.A. County Registrar Dean Logan.
Isn’t the best way to shut down those conspiracy theories and allegations of fraud just to count the votes faster?
“Well, I mean but counting those fast, counting the votes is not what takes the time. It’s processing them. It’s making sure that we check the signatures, we make sure that every ballot that comes in is from eligible registered voter and that they haven’t cast a ballot already in the election, and I think most people recognize the importance of those security mechanisms. We’re really at the mercy of when the ballots come back,” said Logan.
And in June, a large percentage of L.A. County voters returned ballots in the final hours of the election using, drop boxes, vote centers or the postal service. As long as your ballot is postmarked on Election Day, it counts. Nearly 90 percent of voters in the June Primary voted by mail. Voter turnout is expected to be higher this November so the L.A. County Registrar’s Office is scaling up.
“What we’re looking at doing different in this election is running literally around the clock for 72 to 96 hours based on the expectation that we’re going to get a bulk of ballots coming through drop boxes and through drop-off at vote centers and the sooner we can get those scanned through our equipment, go to extraction the sooner when you get them counted in and produce those results…We are looking at options to to make sure that we can get the ballots back faster from the drop boxes and from the vote centers,” said Logan.
There’s always been 24/7 activity at the L.A. County ballot processing center in the City of Industry, but increasing the number of staff who will be here around the clock in the days after the election is expected to speed up the count.
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What’s more difficult to plan for? Efforts across the country to undermine vote by mail.
“There’s a little bit of intent there to just kind of create chaos and have people be concerned about the process. That’s why my message is, don’t let that distract you to vote,” said Logan.
If you’re planning to vote by mail, Logan says you should make a plan – especially if you’re returning your ballot close to Election Day.
“I think there’s volatility in how fast the U.S. Postal Service is processing that mail. Early in the process you’re probably fine, but if you’re up to the week before the election, you’re talking about your vote. I wouldn’t risk that. I would make sure it’s in a ballot box,” said Logan.
Following election night, L.A. County has traditionally released results once a day. This year, they’ll working to increase that. Although it may not seem like it, Logan says L.A. County processed ballots faster this June than ever before. Still, the registrar tells Eyewitness News there’s always room for improvement, although he maintains that some of the ideas being proposed could actually slow the count even more.
“I would agree that looking for some new forms of verification beyond simply a signature match is not a bad idea. But, it’s a policy decision that has to be considered with all the ramifications of that,” said Logan.
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