California election officials cautioned that prolonged vote counts, ballot seizures and threats against registrars are eroding public confidence in election results ahead of upcoming U.S. House contests. California's vote count often takes days or weeks after election day to complete, and the state's swing congressional districts could play a decisive role in determining which party controls the House.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized more than 650,000 ballots from the county registrar of voters. In Shasta County, threats of violence forced the registrar of voters to retire early.

The Associated Press took eight days after the 2024 election to declare Republicans had won control of the U.S. House, nine days after the 2022 election to declare control of the chamber, and seven days after the 2020 election to determine that Democrats would retain control. Outcomes in California swing congressional districts played a decisive role in determining control of the House in each of those three elections. The slow vote count has increased distrust in election results among Republicans when early leads are overturned as more ballots are processed.

"Every day matters. Election security is about security in reality and also security in perception, and they're both equally important," said Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. Alexander said election administrators face a false choice between timeliness and accuracy in vote counting.

County election officials in California have 30 days after an election to certify and submit results to the California Secretary of State. Gail Pellerin, Democratic chair of the Assembly elections committee and former Santa Cruz County registrar of voters, said, "There's nothing in law that says, I need to meet your deadline." She added, "What the law says is that I need to count the votes accurately, securely. I need to check them, and double-check them, and audit them, and then I certify them."

Counties need additional funding for staffing and equipment to count ballots efficiently. Submitting mail ballots early enables counties to process them before election day and may speed up vote counts.

One third of Democrats reported being extremely or very satisfied with how democracy works in California, while 4% of Republicans reported the same. More than two-thirds of Republicans reported they were not satisfied at all with how democracy works in the state, compared to 10% of Democrats. The survey results were practically unchanged from responses in 2024.

"Republicans have one perspective on what's wrong — they make claims of voter fraud and slow ballot counts, and Democrats have another, which is concerns about voter suppression," said Eric Schickler, a UC Berkeley political science professor and co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies.