The presidential election has turned into a nail biter with results in some crucial swing states not expected for potentially several more days.
Gov. Gavin Newsom says with so many people turning out to vote, he fears the delays could make them think twice about doing it again.
"My biggest concern is just an ambiguity of outcome extending the Election Day into election days, weeks. I’m worried about false statements, misleading, manipulative assaults on process," he said, during a stop in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon.
Newsom worries that attacks on this election’s credibility could erode people's faith in the electoral process.
Tuesday night, President Trump mischaracterized continuing to count ballots after polls closed as illegal, suggesting fraud in states where early returns leaned towards the president but then shifted towards his challenger. While Trump's leads have narrowed in some swing states, Biden also lost early leads in major states like Ohio, Texas and Georgia.
Elections officials in those states, including Pennsylvania, have said that the later reports are merely updated vote tallies as they make their way through an unprecedented amount of early and mail in ballots, but that did not stop the President from asserting that he would challenge the results all the way to the Supreme Court.
Newsom said patience is critical so that all of the votes can be properly tabulated.
"Counting ballots, making sure that everybody is being respected in that process and every vote is being tallied: that’s my biggest concern. I think it’s the biggest concern we all have in this country," he said.
While the significant increase in mail-in voting has slowed down the vote counts, Newsom says he will continue to embrace mail in ballots if the California Legislature agrees. Earlier this year Newsom issued an executive order to mail a ballot to every eligible registered voter in the state automatically.
“The bottom line is we want more opportunity, more choice. We want more people to exercise their voice. That’s a good thing as long as we can track, we can make sure that everybody feels confident in that system, that process," he said.
But Newsom acknowledged that there is pride in joining your fellow voters at the polling place on Election Day.
“In person voting I also think is a wonderful thing, so we’re trying to balance both those things. We sent out to every active registered voter and we provided these voting locations including some of these large arenas and partnerships that really have worked incredibly well," he said.
Republican critics disagree. They say the state has a way to go to come up with the regulations and equipment needed to ensure election integrity.