It’s been an election season like no other and with COVID-19, voter suppression and interruptions with the U.S. Postal Service being real things, much attention has been given to the process of counting votes. Then the president decided to throw a few lawsuits in the mix.

Since Tuesday, county officials have been working overtime to count votes and explain the tabulation process. They gave tours to local media outlets and even unveiled a mini robot that live streamed the process “for those at home.”

Due to the coronavirus, every registered voter in California was sent a mail-in-ballot. Some voted early by dropping their pink envelopes at locations throughout the area. Many, not trusting the mail to get their ballots in on time, or at all, chose to turn them in directly to the County Registrar’s office. Many residents still preferred to vote in person, some still dropped their completed ballots off at polling places and boxes on Tuesday.

At press time a little under 39 percent of all registered votes had been counted.

Additionally, there are ballots that were postmarked by Nov. 3 and those cast by people who registered after the deadline, in-person through the county’s Conditional Voter Registration (CVR) process.

“After reviewing the Vote by Mail/Drop Box ballots we have left to process, we estimate there are approximately 359,244 ballots left to count, in addition to the CVR ballots that pass eligibility verification and anything we receive in the mail the next 17 days that is postmarked November 3. This estimation puts projected voter turnout at just about 80 percent — which is a County record,” shared spokesperson Janna Haynes.

Election results will be updated throughout the coming days. Many ballots are not counted on Election Day; county elections officials must report final official results for presidential electors to the Secretary of State by December 1 and all other state contests by December 4, Results will be certified by December 11.

By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer
Photos/video by Russell Stiger Jr.