Eager to know final results of tight races in Stanislaus County? Settle in for a wait
Election Day is over, but the counting of ballots might last for weeks in Stanislaus County, keeping in suspense the candidates and others involved in races too close to call.
Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Donna Linder said Wednesday that her office could have at least 40,000 ballots remaining to be counted. Those ballots were on trays and in bags Wednesday morning, and that total does not include the ballots that continue to arrive by mail.
She said she expects her office will be processing and counting ballots through next week. The processing includes verifying signatures on vote-by-mail ballots.
Linder said she would not be surprised if the election office received a few thousand ballots in the mail Wednesday. The office will count ballots received by mail through Nov. 15 as long as they are postmarked no later than Election Day.
She said her Wednesday estimate on the number of remaining ballots was very preliminary and her office will have a much better idea Thursday when it reports to the California Secretary of State’s Office on how many ballots remain to be counted.
The Secretary of State reports it may take county election offices up to 30 days to count all the vote-by-mail, provisional and other ballots from Tuesday’s election. Election offices must report their final results to the Secretary of State by Dec. 9.
Linder’s office completed its count of the Nov. 3, 2020, election in 17 days. And that was during a presidential election when turnout was significantly higher than Tuesday’s election.
She said her office will be providing updates on the election results Tuesdays and Thursdays between 5 and 8 p.m.
Linder estimates voter turnout from Tuesday’s election in Stanislaus County could be 50% to 60%.
Turnout now stands at 23.6% based on the results her office released at 11:47 p.m. Tuesday. Those results showed 66,743 ballots had been counted, and the county has 282,393 registered voters. The Secretary of State reports voter turnout statewide is 25.4%.
The races that remain too close to call include Measure L, Modesto City Schools’ $198 million bond measure for its high schools. The measure needs 55% to pass and as of Tuesday night had received 55.05% of the vote. That was based on a turnout of 23.5% for the measure.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 12:44 PM.
