The League of Women Voters supports both HB 998 and HB1238, which extend local electoral board certification of elections until either seven calendar days after absentee ballots are returned by mail or ten calendar days after the election. Sorting mail ballots by precinct is burdensome. Registrars also need time to verify same day registrants and count their provisional ballots. Compounding the workload is that no mail is delivered on Friday when it is a federal holiday, as it was in both 2022 and 2023. Tackling these tasks right after the election means tired administrators can make mistakes. The largest localities barely finished in time last year. Remember this: extending the certification deadline at the local level by three days does not affect the timing of the final certification by the State Board of Elections.

This bill would extend the period for final count and certification of the vote from 7 days to 10 days after an election. Currently, large localities do not have adequate time to finish the vote count, provisional ballot decisions, canvass, and certification, to ensure the accuracy and integrity of each election. This is particularly a problem when there are multiple races on the ballot and high turnout, as there will be in the November 2024 general election. Early voting in person and by mail are significant improvements to the accessibility of voting and a real convenience for voters. However, these important innovations come at a cost to the Registrar’s staff and election officials, who must work long hours with sometimes inadequate staffing to count each and every one of these votes, double check, prepare voluminous documentation, and certify the totals for each precinct and each race. In the last election, the state Board of Elections and state Department of Elections had to extend the state agency’s deadline to certify the vote statewide, an accumulation of all local results. With this precedent, the obsolete 7 day deadline should be extended to 10 days so that the timeline is more realistic. The Electoral Board Association reportedly endorses this legislation, which has been introduced previously.. With upcoming races in November 2024 for School Board, City Council/Board of Supervisors, Mayor, House of Representatives, Senate, and President/Vice President, turnout will be very high, and all eyes will be on the process and results. In 2024, this measure is more important than ever. This needed and overdue legislation will not affect the timeliness of unofficial results, as staff and election officials will continue to work tirelessly to provide those as quickly as possible on election night or shortly thereafter. HB 1238 will simply give officials in large jurisdictions the time they need to complete their job and ensure accuracy in the final, certified vote totals. Please pass this bill without delay.