EDITORIAL: Election over: Results to come in a few weeks

In March, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a Mississippi case involving the legality of states — including Nevada — counting late-arriving mail ballots. This week, California provides more evidence of why this is a bad idea.

Californians went to the polls Tuesday to select general election nominees in several high-profile races, including governor and mayor of Los Angeles. The state holds what are known as “jungle primaries,” in which the top two vote-getters for an office move on regardless of party affiliation.

California has essentially become a one-party state, yet national observers were focused on whether Republicans could make inroads given the many missteps governing Democrats have made in recent years as homelessness has exploded, energy prices have soared and housing prices remain out of reach for middle-class buyers thanks to the state’s slavish devotion to the hyper-regulatory state.

So did reality TV villain Spencer Pratt, a Republican, move on to the general election to face incumbent L.A. Mayor Karen Bass? Did Republican Steve Hilton actually win the gubernatorial primary? Two days after the balloting closed, nobody can be sure. California, like Nevada, mails ballots to every registered voter, regardless of whether they requested one or not. It also counts all ballots that are postmarked by Election Day, even if they arrive a week later. Counties have 30 days to finish counting under state law.

The result is what CalMatters describes as a state that is “notoriously slow” at tabulating ballots. Combine that with California’s endorsement of ballot harvesting — which allows third-parties to collect and return ballots of other voters — and it’s little wonder that the delays provide fodder for election conspiracies when massive vote dumps alter outcomes days after the polls close.

This is not just right-wing paranoia. Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to the county election officials recently urging them to count ballots in a more timely manner to avoid the spread of “mis- and disinformation.” Statistics guru Nate Silver, hardly a GOP election denier, summed it up with a recent post on X: “Like honestly ‘it’s going to take us several weeks to tell you who won the election’ is failed state (stuff) and should be much more stigmatized.” Nevada, which counts ballots that arrive up to four days after the election, has also faced significant delays.

We welcome a debate about the wisdom of universal mail ballots or ballot harvesting. But unreasonable delays in tabulating ballots can undermine confidence in the results. It shouldn’t be too much to ask that those voting by mail return their ballots so they may be tabulated prior to or on Election Day. Let’s hope the Supreme Court agrees.