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LA Times editorial board member defends California's slow voting process as 'election integrity' in action
A left-leaning Los Angeles Times editorial board member defended California still counting votes nearly a month after Election Day this week, saying the state’s “painstaking process of collecting and checking” ballots was a testament to election integrity.
“Could some counties process and count ballots faster? Maybe. Some state legislators are interested in finding ways to expedite the process,” LA Times editorial board member Carla Hall wrote this week.
“But what’s more important is that the slow pace has gone hand in hand with allowing voters ample time and a few ways to get their ballots in — and then to fix issues that might prevent them from being counted. The painstaking process of collecting and checking these ballots speaks both to election integrity and to giving voters access and opportunities to vote.”
As Hall noted, some Californians were getting ready for Halloween when they voted in the 2024 race, and now they’re putting up Christmas decorations while officials were still counting votes.
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Vice President Kamala Harris unsurprisingly won California over President-elect Donald Trump, but it’s the state’s slow vote-counting that has angered Republicans. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin;; Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris, a former California U.S. senator, was quickly named the winner in California on Election Night, but the notoriously slow-counting state was still tabulating ballots last week, which has cut into President-elect Donald Trump’s national popular vote margin. Trump lost California by nearly 30 points in 2020 to Joe Biden but cut the margin to about 20 points in 2024.
The final undecided House race in the country was called last week in California, when Democrat Adam Gray ousted Republican Rep. John Duarte in the 13th Congressional District. Gray declared victory four weeks after the election. Another House race in the 45th Congressional District, where Democrat Derek Tran unseated GOP Rep. Michelle Steel, was called more than three weeks after the election.
“It is absurd for California to accept ballots by mail up to 7 days after Election Day and take almost a month to count them,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley wrote on X last month.
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SANTA ANA, CA – November 12: Workers process ballots at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. A large voter turnout and the ballot verification process adds to the time it takes to get a final tally. (Getty Images)
But Hall said people shouldn’t be “hating” on the country’s most populous state for taking its time, citing its provisions like mailing every voter a ballot a month before Election Day and how the state allows citizens to register and vote by provisional ballot on Election Day. In addition, California voters are contacted if their signatures don’t match the ones on voter rolls and given an opportunity to “cure” their ballots, and they have until Dec. 1 to do so.
“That makes it worth waiting for a few races that seemed to take forever to call,” Hall argued.
Hall’s previous individual articles show her preference for Harris; a pre-election column lamented a second Trump administration would damage abortion rights further and another said Harris had “already earned your vote.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Hall for further comment.
California’s vote-counting process has been prolonged due to the high volume of mail-in-ballots, with a majority of Californians opting to vote by mail. In the state’s 2022 election, nearly 90% of votes were cast via mail-in ballots.
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The Los Angeles Times building and newsroom. ((Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images))
State law also permits mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive up to a week later. Mail-in ballots are typically put through a verification process that can also lengthen the amount of time they are tallied. The election certification deadline is Dec. 16.
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
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The Denver Broncos’ 2026 schedule has arrived, with nine games on the road and eight games set for Empower Field at Mile High this season.
The Broncos are set to travel 19,129 miles this year, which ranks 15th in the NFL, according to Bill Speros of Bookies.com. Denver does not have an international game this year, which helped them rank near the middle of the pack in travel. Last season, the Broncos played in London and logged 23,267 travel miles, seventh-most in the league.
Elsewhere in the AFC West, the Los Angeles Chargers will travel 24,816 miles (seventh-most), the Las Vegas Raiders will trek 21,099 miles (13th-most) and the Kansas City Chiefs will log 18,401 miles (17th-most) in 2026.
The San Francisco 49ers (38,105) and Los Angeles Rams (34,847) are set to face off in Australia, giving them by far the most travel miles in the league. The Carolina Panthers (8,740) will have the easiest travel schedule this season.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
SEATTLE – After making one turn through a six-man rotation following the return of Bryce Miller, the Seattle Mariners are making a tweak for the next time through.
Seattle Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Cal Raleigh and more
Manager Dan Wilson said Friday the plan is for the club to piggyback Miller and fellow right-hander Luis Castillo during the next turn. The M’s have yet to decide which of the two will start.
“That’s the approach we’re going to take and we’re ready to roll,” Wilson said. “I think our guys are in a good spot in terms of getting an extra day here, and I think that’s gonna come up huge for some of these guys.”
Miller, who started the season on the injured list with a left oblique strain, made his season debut Wednesday night in Houston, tossing 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball on 81 pitches. Castillo pitched Thursday’s series finale against the Astros, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 innings.
The pair is lined up to pitch Tuesday’s home game against the Chicago White Sox. Miller will have had five days of rest, while Castillo will have had the typical four.
Wilson said both players have been accepting of the decision.
“I think they were definitely in a good spot with it and understand it,” Wilson said. “And I think these guys, as we’ve talked about, these guys in this clubhouse, all of them want to do what’s best for the team. And these guys have really taken to that and they’re ready to go.”
Wilson acknowledged that a piggyback situation could get complicated by game flow and situations, but pointed to the potential benefit it could have in giving the bullpen a night off. Either way, it’s a situation that will be evolving for the club as they go.
“This is something that we haven’t done before, so it’s going to be a lot of waiting and seeing and understanding and assessing and making our adjustments as we go,” he said. “But in theory, you can lay it out, and you just don’t know how it’s actually going to play out. So we have to be open to different ways to proceeding, but we’ll take a look at it when we get there.”
The Mariners’ decision to go to a six-man rotation then a piggyback situation with Castillo and Miller come after widespread speculation about what the club’s plans would be when Miller returned from the IL.
When the season started, the assumption was right-hander Emerson Hancock would once again find himself as the odd man out when Miller returned. However, Hancock, a first-round pick at No. 6 overall in the 2020 draft, has earned himself a spot in the rotation during a breakout start to his season. In nine starts this year, he has a 3-2 record, 3.02 ERA and 56 strikeouts to 10 walks over 53 2/3 innings.
Castillo’s spot in the rotation started to come into question after the veteran started to struggle following a strong first start of the season. In seven starts from April 5-May 9, Castillo posted a 7.79 ERA over 32 1/3 innings and batters hit .329 against him. But his most recent start against Houston marked a step forward for the three-time All-Star and highest-paid pitcher on the Mariners’ roster.
Seattle Mariners coverage
• Seattle Mariners trade DFA’d reliever to AL West rival
• Why Cal Raleigh going on IL is good for him and the Mariners
• Why Jeff Passan likes Seattle Mariners’ plan with six-man rotation
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