We like to think of California as the center of the tech universe. But, apparently, all that know-how has not helped us figure out how to run more efficient elections. Three weeks after the state’s Democratic presidential primary, half a million votes remain uncounted. The final tallies, whenever they come in, are not expected to change the result. Hillary Clinton declared victory the night of the June 7 primary, when she was up by more than 10 points. In videos, in blog posts and on social media, some supporters of Bernie Sanders are pointing to the uncounted ballots as evidence that Mr. Sanders was robbed. Long waits for final totals are not rare in California. Most of the 2.5 million votes that were not counted by June 7 were mail-in ballots that were not returned until Election Day, or even a few days after.
But the vote also exposed “mechanical problems” in the electoral system, said Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data, a consulting firm based in Norwalk, Calif. A flood of voters registered right before the election. Many did not receive mail-in ballots until after Election Day, when they were useless.
… Since June 7, Mr. Sanders has slightly cut into Ms. Clinton’s lead. She was ahead by roughly 440,000 votes on election night. Now, it’s 414,500, or about eight percentage points. Still, it’s a sizable margin.
“The Bernie folks have legitimate gripes,” Mr. Mitchell said. “But they’re all going to be resolved when these provisional ballots are counted.”
Full Article: California Today: Yes, They’re Still Counting the Presidential Primary Votes – The New York Times.