HERE WE GO AGAIN: California Counting Regresses from 58% Yesterday Morning to 56% Now — The Reason Raises Questions
California’s vote counting process just got even stranger.
Yesterday morning, officials reported that 58% of the vote had been counted in key races. Fifteen hours later, that number had dropped all the way down to 56%.
The percentage of ballots counted actually went backwards.
This is playing out in major races, including the Los Angeles mayoral contest where Spencer Pratt has been performing strongly and appears headed for a potential runoff.
This is also playing out in the California gubernatorial race, where the numbers continue shifting in unpredictable ways days after the election.
The reason? Officials revised the estimated total number of votes upward due to “higher than expected turnout.” That means a fresh wave of late mail-in ballots is still pouring in, forcing them to keep adjusting the totals.
This matches exactly what NBC predicted days ago — that “late-arriving mail-in votes” could keep coming for days.
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The pattern in California is becoming all too familiar. Elections drag on for weeks as new batches of mail ballots keep appearing long after Election Day, often shifting results in one direction. When the counted percentage actually decreases this many days later, it raises serious questions about transparency and the integrity of the process.
President Trump and Republicans have warned for years that loose mail-in rules and weak deadlines create the perfect environment for exactly this kind of uncertainty. When the numbers keep changing in unpredictable ways, public trust takes another major hit.
If Spencer Pratt advances or wins, his campaign will need overwhelming turnout — big enough that no amount of late ballots can overcome it. In California’s current system, that’s not optional, it’s necessary.
Americans are getting fed up with elections that never seem to end, especially when the delays always appear to benefit one side. We need clear deadlines, real chain-of-custody, and results on Election Night — not weeks of revisions.
California’s process is becoming a national embarrassment, and the rest of the country is watching closely.
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Mark Van der Veen offers some of the most analytical and insightful writings on politics. He regularly opines on the motives and political calculations of politicians and candidates, and whether or not their strategy will work. Van der Veen offers a contrast to many on this list by sticking mainly to a fact-based style of writing that is generally combative with opposing ideologies.
