During a primetime address to the nation Thursday, President Donald Trump claimed without evidence that voting by mail in California and other places is “inherently corrupt.” He also referenced the June 2 primary to cast doubt on the length of time it takes to certify an election here.
Shawn Brom, San Diego County’s Registrar of Voters, said unequivocally there’s no significant voter fraud locally.
“I have the utmost confidence in the San Diego County Registrar of Voters procedures in place,” he said. “That includes the vote-by-mail ballots and also in-person voting.”
Roughly 90% of ballots are cast via mail in San Diego County, according to Brom.
He said election staff follow many steps to ensure votes are legitimate. For example, verifying the signature on a mail ballot and suspending a lost mail ballot when a voter requests a replacement.
State law provides 30 days to certify elections. Brom said his office typically takes about a week to process ballots, then uses the remaining time to audit results and provide opportunities to add missing signatures to legitimate ballots.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonprofit California Voter Foundation, said there’s irony to claims of fraud stemming from the 30-day certification process.
“The real reason why it takes us so long to get our results determined is because we are being careful and we are being secure with the voting process,” she said.
Still, Alexander said there are legitimate public policy reasons to speed up the count. Though it’s “normal for California,” she said the extended timeline allows for speculation and can be a letdown for people investing time in the process.
“It’s very disappointing for voters, candidates and people involved in campaigns to have a long wait after Election Day to find out the results. We ask voters to do a lot of homework to make their voting choices. Our ballots are long and complex. There’s a lot of instructions,” she said.
Faith in California’s system appears to skew heavily partisan, according to a March poll conducted by UC Berkeley and cosponsored by the Los Angeles Times. The poll found 79% of registered Democratic voters were confident local election officials would conduct a fair election in June, compared to 42% of Republicans.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers approved a state budget last month that reserves $29 million to bolster county election staffing and equipment, along with $10 million for a publicity campaign letting voters know they can speed up the count by turning in their ballots earlier.
