Distrust in the integrity of elections is running rampant throughout the United States. The “big lie” fed by election deniers has the potential to derail our democracy in the future—the very near future, like this November! But in California we can take heart: The laws governing elections are designed to ensure not only that every vote is counted but also that the process is fair, secure, and auditable.

As you know, every state in the union has the responsibility for regulating and administering elections. Election laws and procedures vary widely across states. In California (CA), the Election Code is administered by the Secretary of State (SOS), an elected position. Rules for running elections, counting ballots, and maintaining the voter rolls are legislated and the CASOS establishes specific requirements for counties to administer state and local elections. Counties develop election administration plans subject to the CASOS review and approval.

Many Californians are unaware of how frequently the voting laws in California are adjusted to systematically expand access to the ballot for all eligible voters. Key features of California’s Election Code include:

• Mailing every registered voter a ballot
• Expanding in-person early voting
• Allowing voters to cast a ballot at any vote center within their county
• Providing secure ballot drop-off locations throughout their county

All registered California voters receive a vote-by-mail ballot, sent around October 10. You should have yours by now. You can simply complete your ballot and sign the envelope (follow instructions carefully) and drop it in the mail or ballot drop-off location.

If you choose to go vote in person at a vote center, your ballot remains not only completely private but encased in a secure black box as a separate sheet of paper. Although you may use a device that resembles a computer tablet (like an iPad) to populate your ballot, that device and the information you put into it are NEVER connected to the internet. It is a mistake to think that someone could “hack” your vote or change a voting machine to “switch” your vote to a different answer or another candidate. The ballot-marking device just makes it easier to select your choices and prints them onto your paper ballot. Your ballot choices are NOT connected to a network of any sort—they simply are printed on your paper ballot for your visual inspection. You personally feed it into the secure black box next to the printing device. After printing, the digital (electronic) information is NOT saved. The vote tallies are taken from the paper ballot.

Your Vote Counts!

For a democracy to remain healthy, people must have faith in the system. In California, election integrity means establishing a transparent and auditable process, preventing voter fraud and voter intimidation, and ensuring every properly voted ballot is counted.

Counties may begin processing vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots seven business days before the election. Having verified the signatures on the return envelopes, election officials remove the voted ballots and process them through their vote tallying system.

Immediately upon the close of polls on Election Day, the county election officials start the tallying of early-returned VBM ballots and the ballots cast during the early voting period. VBM ballots not counted by that time and all those received on Election Day, either through the mail or at the precincts, are tabulated during the official canvass of the vote.

Provisional ballots are cast by voters whose names do not appear on the precinct roster. Election officials verify the voter’s eligibility to cast the ballot. Once verified, the ballot is added to the official count.

A reconciliation of the number of ballots counted, spoiled, canceled, or invalidated due to identifying marks or overvotes with the number of votes counted, including VBM and provisional ballots, is required.

Certifying Results

Certifying election results in Los Angeles County starts when the vote centers close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. All ballots cast at vote centers throughout the ten-day early voting period and on Election Day are sealed, secured, and transported by sheriff’s deputies to the Tally Operation Center in Downey. VBM ballots along with vote center ballots are received and processed.

State law requires the Registrar to complete and certify election results within thirty days, a period known as the Official Election Canvass. This provision of the law allows for a thorough audit of the election results to ensure accuracy and guarantees that every vote is counted and included in the official final election returns.

By law, to verify machine counts, a random sample of ballots from every election must be manually tallied, a process known as the 1% Manual Tally Audit. Candidates and the public are allowed to observe the ballot counting and auditing processes.

For more on results certification in L.A. County, see https://www.lavote.gov/home/voting-elections/current-elections/election-results/certifying-results.   

How Do You Know If Your Vote Was Counted?

California offers a service called Ballottrax, free to all voters. By registering at “Where’s my ballot?” (operated by Ballottrax) on the California Secretary of State website, you can receive notices as your ballot goes through the process of being mailed to you, being received after you have cast it, and being counted. Go to State of California (ballottrax.net) to easily sign up and start getting updates on the status of your ballot!

This is one more way that California ensures confidence in the integrity of our elections and gives you peace of mind that your vote counts! For more information and answers to frequently asked questions, go to Where’s My Ballot?

Election Deniers Are Competing for Office in the Midterm Elections

For those concerned about further derailing trust in our voting systems by unknowingly voting for candidates who deny the validity of the 2020 presidential election results, the fivethirtyeight website has posted the names of candidates who are professed election deniers. You can look them up by state by scrolling to the bottom of this page: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/republicans-trump-election-fraud/.

—Martha Zavala