Staff members from the Marin County Elections Department are working as quickly as possible while focusing on accuracy to process the heavy return of ballots on election night.
Registrar of Voters Lynda Roberts said an updated online tally was posted at 11 AM Friday, November 8, but it will be another 10 days before all ballots are processed.
Providing a rough estimate, Roberts said the department received over 51,000 ballots the day before and on Election Day, which will make the overall turnout close to 85% of all registered voters. However, the late arrival of many ballots on Election Day also delays results because processing requires multiple steps before ballots can be counted. Approximately 14,000 people voted at the County’s vote centers over the provided voting period, while over 100,000 people voted by mail or provisionally. Roberts estimated another 47,000 ballots remain to be counted as of November 8.
“I know people want results fast, but we don’t cut corners — we must be accurate and ensure every vote is counted,” Roberts said. “The team is doing a great job sorting, verifying signatures, and removing ballots from envelopes so we can count them as quickly as possible. Staff worked last weekend and we plan to work over the Veterans Day holiday weekend as well.”
Over 85,000 ballots ready for counting by Election Day, including vote-by-mail and early voting ballots, had been tabulated by election night. Mailed ballots may be received up to seven days after an election as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
Results will be updated by 5 PM on November 13, 15, 18, and 20. Dates for additional updates will be posted at www.marinvotes.org.
By law, the elections team must certify and report final election results to the Secretary of State by December 3. Updates about number of ballots remaining to be processed will be posted on the department’s main website as results are updated.
Shame on you. All of you should have been ready hopefully this will change next time.