GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton calls for faster vote counting in California elections

SAN MATEO, Calif. (KGO) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, who is currently leading in the race and is likely to advance to November’s primary, is calling for faster ballot counting as officials continue processing votes.

Hilton appeared in the Bay Area, holding a rally Friday morning outside the San Mateo County Elections Office in San Mateo. There, he criticized the state’s ballot-counting timeline, urging changes to speed up results.

Election officials say the system prioritizes accuracy over speed. California law allows ballots to be counted if they arrive up to a week after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by then. State officials argue the policy ensures more voters are able to participate, particularly those casting mail-in ballots at the last minute.

Hilton has proposed additional resources to accelerate the counting process, including an “Emergency Election Support Corps” to assist counties.

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“It involves surging workers to these election centers so you don’t just have empty places, nothing happening,” Hilton said. “People working around the clock to make this happen. I’m proposing a regional surge team for every area where the counties don’t have the resources.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office pushed back in a statement, saying, “It’s concerning that a candidate for Governor doesn’t know the Governor has nothing to do with counting ballots.”

Local election officials also disputed Hilton’s characterization of the process. Jim Irizarry, San Mateo County’s assistant chief elections officer, said staffing is already in place and working continuously.

“Well, that’s not correct,” Irizarry said of Hilton’s claim that there are election centers with nothing happening. “Here in San Mateo County, we have two crews working full-time here to actually process all of the ballots that we have. In California, we’re governed under the ‘California Voters Choice Act,’ which provides a 30-day certification process to ensure that every vote that is cast is counted. So it’s very inclusionary. It’s safe and secure, and it takes time.”

Inside the elections office, ABC7 Eyewitness News saw workers processing ballots, including conducting what officials call a “1% dice roll” to determine which votes will be manually double-checked Monday, a step designed to ensure accuracy in the count. Officials say crews are working overtime, around the clock.

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Final results are still days, and possibly weeks, away as ballot processing continues statewide.

County elections officials need to finalize their official results by 30 days after the election. The Secretary of State certifies results 38 days after the election.

Hilton is stopping short of claims by some GOP members that California is rigging votes by taking time to count and certify election results, despite continuing delays in final tallies.

There is no evidence to support such claims.