FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — After a four-year absence, the Miss California competition is returning to Fresno, bringing dozens of contestants back to the city that long served as the pageant’s home.

Contestants gathered at River Park on Sunday afternoon to kick off competition week.

Organizers said 63 contestants for Miss California and Miss California Teen took part in the event.

They emphasized the competition is about more than what happens on stage, saying contestants spend months developing leadership skills, advocating for causes they care about and earning scholarships.

“And when you hear that pageants are just girly stuff, no. No, these are intelligent, bright, beautiful women,” said Sandy Johnson who volunteers for the event.

Another speaker highlighted the focus on service and advocacy: “They’re all here with their passions and their community service initiatives to go forward and change the world as one of them becomes the next Miss California and another becomes the next Miss California teen.”

Reigning Miss California Rachel Axt of Clovis said her experience has helped her share her community initiative, advocating for children on the spectrum.

“It’s also helped me in my career as a special education teacher be able to get the word out and to show people what it’s really like to live life on the spectrum,” Axt said.

This year’s competition also marks a homecoming for the pageant. From 1994 to 2022, Fresno served as the host city. Now, after four years, the competition has returned.

“It’s special to me because I was born and raised in Fresno County, but it’s very special to the community because in many ways, this is the historical home of Miss California,” said Axt.

Volunteer Sandy Johnson said events like the pageant provide an economic boost to the area.

“They’re bringing their parents, their guests, and they’re in the city and eating and shopping and doing all those things,” Johnson said.

The Miss California competition is scheduled for June 15-20, 2026, at the Saroyan Theatre in downtown Fresno.

Warnings for dangerous coastal conditions on Sunday, June 14 were extended until late Wednesday at Los Angeles County beaches, and until Friday at Orange County beaches.

Dangerous rip currents and breaking waves due to elevated surf of 3 to 6 feet on south-facing Los Angeles County beaches are expected, in addition to “high astronomical tides of 7.5 to 7.9 feet” each evening, according to the National Weather Service.

“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS said. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats near shore. Minor coastal flooding is possible in low-lying areas near the times of high tides.”

The NWS advised people to remain out of the water or stay near occupied lifeguard towers. Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, to beachgoers were also advised to stay off the rocks.

In Orange County, a beach hazards statement is in effect through Friday evening. King tides are expected to affect the Orange County coastline, bringing the possibility of flooding in low-lying areas.

See also: Body of girl swept into ocean in Laguna Beach found near Christmas Cove

“Areas most susceptible to flooding include Newport Island, Balboa Island, Finley Tract, Lido Village, Balboa Village, LaFayette Avenue, the Peninsula and portions of the Marcus River and Lake Avenue area,” according to a dispatch last week from the Newport Beach City Manager’s Office.

“Residents with properties adjacent to Newport Harbor should take precautions, including installing seawall plugs and placing sandbags in vulnerable areas,” the dispatch stated.

The warning advised that localized street “ponding” is expected and drivers were urged to proceed slowly through any flooded areas to avoid creating wakes that can worsen the impact to nearby properties.

Parking in low-lying areas should be avoided.

“City crews are installing flood-protection gap boards on Balboa Island and will deploy throughout the king tide event to operate pumps, place sandbags, install flood-protection measures and post traffic-control signs where needed,” the dispatch stated.

Newport Beach residents can pick up pre-filled sandbags at the City Corporation Yard at 592 Superior Ave. Sandbags were also available for filling at all Newport Beach fire stations.

Anyone in the Newport Beach area seeking more information can call 949-644-3055.

King tides are typically the highest tides of the year, caused by the combined gravitational pull of the moon and sun during full and new moons.

Over the last decade, California became a national leader in voter accessibility and security, expanding options for when and how ballots can be cast while also strengthening election safeguards.

But those reforms came at a cost: speed. And in a political climate where unsupported conspiracies about election fraud can run rampant on social media — pushed, at times, by top political leaders — some fear the slow vote count is becoming a liability.

Election outcomes in recent years have become more drawn out in California, most recently taking about a week to determine the gubernatorial and Los Angeles mayoral candidates advancing to November’s runoff after hotly contested primaries. And in prior years, it’s taken even longer to determine tight U.S. House or state Senate seats.

That trade-off — election accessibility and security over quick results — has long been defended as a byproduct of California’s desire to make it as easy as possible to cast a ballot while ensuring accuracy and integrity, something backers say remains vital to a thriving democracy.

But some experts say the increasing backlash over the slow vote count sows distrust.

“We’ve allowed the long count to be normalized, … but that doesn’t mean it’s normal,” said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, who has become an advocate for accelerating the state’s vote count. “There’s no question that voter confidence is eroding.”

A slower vote count does not signal any indication of fraud, despite unfounded claims over the last week by President Trump and others. Election officials and nonpartisan groups make clear that voter fraud remains extremely rare in the U.S., and there’s been no evidence of any such issues in California’s latest primary count.

But studies have found that voter trust slides as results lag, and this primary made clear that disinformation gains more traction the longer contests drag on, especially with lead changes.

That came to pass this primary, particularly as reality TV personality Spencer Pratt slowly lost his initial second-place ranking in the L.A. mayor’s race, before later batches of votes bumped him from the runoff — fueling an onslaught of social media hysteria: claims of so-called corruption and vote dumping, misinformed examples of alleged fraud and right-wing disinformation campaigns.

But making any substantive changes — particularly before November’s general election — would be an uphill battle, especially in deep-blue California, where Democrats tend to resist limits to voter access. And some are urging restraint.

“We should never drive policy based on conspiracy theories and lies,” said David Becker, the executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research. “That said, are there things California can do?”

Some suggestions, such as increased funding for county election offices and more education about early voting, would probably make some difference.

But the crux of the slow count comes from a flood of last-minute mail-in ballots — in a state with about one-eighth of the U.S. population. When a large percentage of California’s voters mail or drop off these ballots on or just before election day — as they tend to — it creates what Alexander calls the “pig in the python” effect: a major backlog of labor-intensive ballots to process, in a state that already handles the largest-volume ballot counts.

While verification occurs simultaneously during in-person voting, election officials in California are required to confirm a voter’s registration status, verify each voter’s signature and ensure each person did not vote elsewhere for each vote-by-mail ballot. Becker called it an “intensively human process” that cannot be sped through — but could be spread out by more early voting.

“It is a lot easier to report results out faster when ballots come in sooner,” Becker said.

Altering that process significantly enough to ease that bottleneck would likely come with other trade-offs, experts said, such as earlier deadlines to turn in certain ballots or more time-consuming ballot drop-offs — either of which might dissuade some voters from showing up. Mail-in ballots have overwhelmingly become Californians favorite way to vote, with more than 80% of voters using that method in every election since 2020.

But California didn’t become known for slow ballot counting overnight. Since the turn of the millennium, the state has taken several steps to increase voter access by expanding options for how, when and where voters can cast their ballot, while also strengthening its processes to become what the secretary of state’s office calls “the strongest voting security standards in the country.”

Those changes have included same-day voter registration, more early voting options, replacing neighborhood-specific polling places with vote centers, and most notably, universal vote-by-mail, which in 2021 required that all registered voters be mailed their ballot, which can be mailed back, returned to a secure drop box or vote center or ignored if the voter opts to vote in person.

Many Democratic voters this year waited to turn in their ballots due to the crowded pool of gubernatorial candidates, which probably exacerbated the already-slow process.

Still, that was expected. Election watchdogs and party officials from both parties tried to temper Californians’ expectations about the timing of results from the primary, reminding voters that it would likely take days if not weeks to call close races.

But when that exact process began to play out — particularly in the extremely tight contests for California governor and Los Angeles mayor — it almost immediately brought criticism and concern.

“None of the optics are good,” complained Roxanne Hoge, chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party. “None of this is designed to inspire confidence.”

As Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office tried to dispel misinformation about California’s ballot tabulation process, the statement also said, “For the record: we wish the votes were counted faster, too.”

Not only would a speedier election count improve voter trust, which can often increase participation, Alexander said, it would also decrease harassment of election workers and help newly elected candidates step into their new roles faster — and eliminate a long limbo period for the losing candidate.

“We can get it right and do it faster, and we should,” Alexander said.

A 2023 law allowed counties to provide voters an opportunity to cast their vote-by-mail ballot as an in-person ballot, by submitting it sans envelope and signing for it at a vote center, which reduces the verification process required by election workers. About half of California counties have adopted some option of this expedited process, according to the California Voter Foundation, some calling it “Sign, scan and go!” or the “naked ballot” option, but more widespread implementation of this could help speed up the count, Alexander said. Los Angeles County, which processes more ballots than many states, has not yet implemented this time-saving option.

California also allows ballots, if postmarked by election day, to be accepted up to a week after polls close — though that policy may soon be forced to change depending how the Supreme Court rules on a case challenging ballots arriving after election day. Still, these late-arriving ballots don’t account for a large share of the delays in California: in 2024, only about 2.5% of all ballots arrived in the mail after election day.

But some election observers point out that even when compared with states with similarly run elections, California still lags behind.

“California simply counts the ballots it has too slowly and its elections offices are underfunded,” election analysts Eli McKown-Dawson and Nate Silver recently wrote in a Substack piece. “If you want people to be confident in your electoral system, a good first step is to build one that works properly.”

And while seven other states also automatically mail voters ballots, experts say it’s hard to make direct comparisons with California. Some critics often point to Colorado as an example of a state with similarly ubiquitous mail-in voting, yet a much faster count than California. But the scale of states’ elections are so different: In 2024, California processed about 13 million vote-by-mail ballots; not even 3 million were counted in Colorado.

Some have also pointed out that despite all the ways California has worked to expand voter accessibility, turnout hasn’t dramatically changed. California remains relatively in the middle of the pack when it comes to voter turnout across the U.S., and while the state has seen some spikes in turnout during certain election years, there’s been no noticeable uptick over the last 15 years, according to a review of data from 2008 to 2024.

But Becker contended that there are many factors that can influence voter turnout, in particular, California’s strong blue tilt.

“Perceived competitiveness” — or lack thereof — often keeps voters from the polls, as can uninspiring campaigns or even the weather, Becker said, but he was adamant that shouldn’t be a reason to make it harder for people to vote.

“Accessibility is always worth it,” Becker said.

Hoge, the GOP chair, had a different take, highlighting concerns about the voter registration process as well as the slow count — though she has been clear that the latter doesn’t necessarily signal fraud.

She has continued to push a more tempered narrative to many Republican leaders, including from the White House. On X, she shared a post that fact-checked a photo of vote tabulations from L.A. County, which appeared to — erroneously — show reality TV personality Spencer Pratt receiving no new votes in a daily vote count. And she boosted a video that dispelled rumors about Democrats stealing votes and ones about widespread fraud in California’s process.

“It’s a horrible roller coaster,” Hoge said about California’s election results. “It doesn’t make sense, and the fact that you’re just noticing it today doesn’t mean that it’s newly not making sense. … But until we win, we can’t change it.”

No matter what California might change or improve, Becker said he is confident it won’t stop the criticism or campaigns of misinformation. He also said that most elections in California are called relatively quickly — take the state’s pick for president, which is usually confirmed on election night — but it’s a small share of extremely tight races that take longer, because they require a more complete count to call a winner.

“It doesn’t matter how fast California counts its ballots, … we would be seeing similar conspiracy theories, maybe just with a different framing,” Becker said. “California ends up being a very effective bogeyman.”

Staff writer Kevin Rector contributed to this report.