LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The work of counting the ballots cast by mail or in person by Lake County’s voters continued on Wednesday after a long election night.
The Lake County Registrar of Voters Office, continuing the process of counting the ballots, issued one update on Wednesday afternoon.
That report showed no change in the shape of the local races so far, including the most closely-watched race of the season, for the District 5 seat on the Board of Supervisors, in which Jessica Pyska continues to lead Bill Kearney with a substantial margin.
The report showed that 11,157 ballots have been counted for the state and federal races. However, a total of 37,717 vote by mail ballots were issued in Lake County, and of those 16,823 had been reported returned by Monday.
With thousands more ballots cast in person on Tuesday or still making their way to the elections office via mail, knowing just how many ballots there are to count could take weeks. That’s because the state has extended the deadline for accepted mailed ballots; those postmarked by Election Day can be accepted up to 17 days afterward.
Presidential elections have typically seen voter turnout close to, or above, 70 percent in Lake County, and vote by mail – or absentee – voting has increased in recent years.
The registrar’s office typically issues a report within a week or so of the election that will give an estimate on how many ballots remain to be counted.
Elections officials have a month to conduct the official canvass in which they go through a thorough process that leads to the final certification of the results in early December.
Typically, once it reports on the number of ballots left to count, the Lake County Registrar of Voters will not issue updates until the final canvass is completed.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.