SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Don't hold your breath waiting for election returns – the amount of time it takes to count ballots in California is up sharply over the past two decades.
More than 80% of the ballots in the state during the 2004 election were counted within two days and less than one third were cast by mail.
Compare that with last June's primary, when more than 90% of ballots were by mail, and less than half were counted within two days of election day, according to data from California Voter Foundation.
Kim Alexander, president of the organization, said the reason for the lag is simple – it takes longer to count mail ballots.
"Takes a lot more staff time to process vote by mail ballots so as more and more ballots are coming in, as vote by mail ballots, it's adding a lot of administrative time to the ballot counting process," she told KCBS Radio.
And the lag is partially a feature in California.
"We have a lot of protections to make sure nobody gets disenfranchised when they vote by mail," she said.
For instance, if you forgot to sign your envelope or your signature doesn't match, your county has to give you a chance to fix the problem.
"All those signatures have to be verified before the envelope can be opened and the ballot extracted and counted," Alexander explained.
In addition, ballots are accepted up to six days after Tuesday if postmarked by 8 p.m., which adds time and work for election employees.
"We are encouraging folks to be kind to their election workers and say thank you," Alexander said. "Take a moment when they vote, or drop off their ballot to thank the people who are helping to make the voting process work."
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