- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
As ballot count continues, elections office works on signature verifications, unsigned ballots
Registrar Maria Valadez reported that she is planning to have Lake County’s election results certified by Dec. 1, which is the deadline she has to report the results for the presidential election to the Secretary of State’s Office, with other state and local contests having a Dec. 4 deadline.
Valadez previously reported that more than 18,000 ballots remained to be processed following Election Day, by the end of which more than 11,000 had been counted.
Lake County’s unprocessed ballots are among more than 1.4 million across California yet to be counted, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
In a message on the elections office’s website this week, Valadez emphasized that the Nov. 3 election results are not final and that her staff members “are working very diligently on completing all tasks required to certify the election.”
Valadez said there are many checks and balances when certifying the election results. “The process of certifying election results, also known as the Official Canvass, is mandated by state law to make sure the public can have confidence in the integrity of the final results.”
One of those steps is dealing with unsigned vote-by-mail ballots or vote-by-mail ballots where there are discrepancies in signatures.
Valadez’s office sent out signature verification or unsigned ballot envelope statements to voters whose ballots were found to have those issues.
Voters who received the notices are being urged to return the completed forms either by mail, fax, email or in-person by noon on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
Valadez’s office emphasized that it cannot count a voter’s vote-by-mail ballot if the completed and signed statement is not returned by that Dec. 1 deadline.
Valadez also issued an update on her website explaining why Lake County’s preliminary results displayed 70 out of 70 precincts as 100-percent reported despite ballots remaining to be counted.
“Lake County has 70 voting precincts, which are composed of 50 voting precincts and 20 mail ballot precincts. Just as we must do for every election, we are required to make certain reports to the Secretary of State’s office,” Valadez wrote.
She said election code requires officials to conduct a semifinal official canvass by tabulating vote-by-mail and precinct ballots and compiling the results. “The semifinal official canvass shall commence immediately upon the close of the polls and shall continue without adjournment until all precincts are accounted for.”
Valadez explained that, for every election, by the end of the night, after all voting precincts have reported back to her office, her office must report to the Secretary of State’s Office that ballots for all voting precincts – including mail ballot precincts – cast on election night have been counted and reported.
“Therefore our last report to the Secretary of State’s office must indicate that the 70 voting precincts have been reported at 100%.” she wrote.
She said elections law also requires her to transmit the semifinal official results to the Secretary of State’s Office upon closing of the polls, by 8 p.m. and no later than 10 p.m. Afterward, reports must be submitted on a two-hour basis until the semifinal official canvass is completed.
When reporting to the Secretary of State’s Office, Valadez said her final end-of-night report must match the number of reportable precincts – in this case, 70 – before the semifinal official canvass can be considered completed and final.
As the canvass continues, Valadez – as per longtime county protocol – will not update results until the final certified results are completed.
“We do not interrupt the careful steps that we take during the Canvass to release interim unofficial results,” she wrote. “Interim unofficial results have no bearing on the final outcome of the races and contests. Only final certified results will impact the races and contests,” she said in her online statement.
Vote-by-mail voters can still sign up to track their ballots at https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/.
For more information, contact the Registrar of Voters Office at 707-263-2372 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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