By Ricardo Roura
California lawmakers held discussion over vote counting system of the primary elections, after the controversy that occurred since the night of Tuesday, June 2, due to the delay in knowing the results.
Under California law, mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day are counted and that they are received up to one week after the vote.
The counties They then have 13 days to count the majority of the ballots and one month to certify local results.
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California Republican Congressman Jay Obernolte is proposing a bill to change the vote counting system.
“When it takes the state this long, more than a month, to process and count all the ballots, can affect public confidence in the fairness of our electionsand in our underlying democracy,” said Rep. Obernolte.
The “Electoral Results Accountability Law”, announced by Obernolte, requires states to process at least 90% of ballots in any federal election within three days after polls close and certify the results within the following two weeks.
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The questions related to California’s electoral process arise amid comments from President Donald Trump, who declared that the primaries were “rigged”, in addition to criticizing the time it takes to count the votes.
In California, Democratic legislators disapproved of President Trump’s statements against the electoral process.
“They are laying the foundation for challenge the good vote count this November“said Representative Pete Aguilar, Democrat of California.
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Fellow California Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove called the president’s comments as “sore loser syndrome”.
Congresswoman Laura Friedman mentioned being open to the idea of speeding up the processing of ballots, although he acknowledged that the change would represent a cost. He said voters have the pleasure of being able to vote by mail until Election Day.
“What we are talking about is to take that option away from California voters“Friedman considered.
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In Obernolte’s opinion, speed up the vote counting process would generate greater confidence among voters.
“I have no proof that the election was rigged.“But ask anyone standing in line at the supermarket if they trust an election where the count fluctuates during the month after Election Day, and everyone will agree that it is a monstrous concept,” he said.
Obernolte’s bill provides exceptions for cases such as natural disasters, public health emergencies, vote counting and others.
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The Republican representative pointed out that he will have to overcome great obstacles in Congress, but he claimed to have the belief that it would be a benefit to democracy.
Keep reading:
· Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris support Xavier Becerra for governor of California
· Federal prosecutors accuse California of hindering an election audit
· California still without final results due to delays in vote counting: primary elections
