Despite reports of ink-stained ballots and questions about how the votes were counted, election officials up and down California say they have accurately counted the millions of votes expected to be cast this week. He said he was confident that it would be certified.

“I feel so good,” Nevada County Registrar of Voters Natalie Adna said Monday morning after seeing flecks of ink the size of fleas ruin 10% of mailed ballots. Despite having to buy a jeweler’s loop, she called it “a nuisance.”

A printing defect known as overspray also damaged half of the mail-in ballots collected in Shasta County by Monday.

Such garden-variety mishaps are common and are not expected to derail California’s election process, despite heated rhetoric and increasing attempts to disrupt vote certification across the country.

Election officials here are also worried about voting locally, even though state law requires machine tabulation and only county registrars, not political committees, have the authority to certify election results. He said he expected some ballots to be rejected or required to be counted by hand.

“It’s kind of ridiculous,” Yolo County Registrar Jesse Salinas said, commenting on efforts to persuade some county commissioners to block acceptance of the vote results. “We don’t need that kind of drama, but it’s going to be there.”

In Shasta and Nevada counties, ink spots appeared on the barcodes printed on some ballots, preventing Hart InterCivic voting machines from reading them correctly.

Registrars in two Northern California counties have begun the arduous task of transferring votes from illegible ballots to machine-readable substitutes, a process that requires manual checks and slow tabulation. was significantly delayed. By Monday morning, Adna had 20,000 outstanding ballots waiting to be processed. Shasta County Registrar Thomas Toler said his office is reprocessing ballots at a rate of about 700 per hour.

Both registrars believed they could complete their work in time to certify county presidential election results by the Dec. 3 deadline. But Mr. Toler has also navigated a contentious environment in which election drama has influenced and garnered support from national election denialists, including MyPillow.com CEO Mike Lindell. was.

“There have been observers who are understandably upset that this has happened, and there are also members of the community who just want to support my staff,” Toler said Monday. “So far they’ve been pretty civil to each other and there haven’t been any shouting matches.

“That’s one of my goals: to maintain an atmosphere of civility and temper the enthusiasm of the observers.”

Shasta County has been a hotbed of conspiracy theories about election fraud in recent years. In 2023, the Board of Supervisors voted to retire Dominion’s voting machines and switch to hand-counting, so all but the smallest races (such as general elections with fewer than 1,000 voters) A new state law has been enacted that requires mechanical counting.

In 2022, the Shasta Board narrowly agreed by a 3-2 vote to accept the Registrar’s certification of the state primary election and created an Advisory Elections Commission to continue to pursue and investigate.

The advisory committee is currently aiming to audit the March primary election, and in October one of its members joined a political separatist group, calling for a “stop” campaign to declare California’s election process “rigged.” and a letter of cancellation was submitted to the county.

Shasta County Supervisor Tim Garman said he wouldn’t be surprised if the ultra-conservative majority tried to reject the election results.

“There are a lot of people here who don’t believe in elections, and a few bosses who agree with that and refuse to certify them,” he said.

Garman said county attorneys have assured him that no matter how malicious the arguments, the vote by the county commission is symbolic and all that matters is the registrar’s certification. said.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber acknowledged the idea. He said his office is closely monitoring the situation in Shasta County and is prepared to send in additional election observers if dissent jeopardizes voting.

“So far they’ve done a pretty good job,” Weber said Monday. “But there may be other [issues] If such issues arise, we will respond immediately. ”

California gives county registrar 28 days ~ until December 3rd ~ Certify and publish local election results for the presidential election. Deadlines for other political contests are in the next few days.

These findings will be sent to the Secretary of State, who must certify them by December 7th. Reporting statewide results to the governor and presidential electors. New York, Oregon, and Texas are the only states with later presidential certification deadlines.

Local board approval is not important in California and is generally treated as a source of information. Some county commissions may not know the results until January, but it is sure to spark heated debate in others.

After the March primary, citizens appeared before the Orange County Board of Supervisors for an hour, alleging illegal voting, political corruption and other “heinous acts.” At the end of that time, the board accepted the Registrar’s election report without discussion.

California registrars contacted by the Times said in their view the November election was proceeding without major problems.

“It’s very similar to previous elections,” Santa Cruz County Registrar Tricia Webber said.

However, “normal” also includes a certain amount of opposition and mistrust.

The California chapter of the Election Integrity Project, a poll watchdog group that trains poll watchers while perpetuating claims of election fraud, has filed a petition in Sacramento County Superior Court asking for a special master to take over the certification of California’s election results. .

The group’s proxy statement alleges “inconsistencies” between the November 2022 election results and its own analysis of June 2023 voter rolls. No date has been set for the public hearing.

In August, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a similar request by the group to invalidate California’s 2020 election. The appeals panel said the group had provided a “limited factual basis” and that even if its claims were true, the number of invalidated votes would be “extremely insignificant and “It will have no measurable impact on the fundamental fairness or integrity of the state’s elections.”

“Evidence will expose election corruption,” the Election Integrity Project said in its October 30 California newsletter, also linking pro-Donald Trump conspiracy theorist Lindell to Steve Bannon. and continued to make the claim.

Registrars in at least 12 counties also reported receiving “cease and desist” letters from members of New California, a group that seeks to divide the state along rural versus urban political ideology.

They claim the 2020 election was “rigged” and say it is illegal to use machines to count votes in the 2024 election. In Shasta County, the letter was filed by advisory board member Patti Plumb, who said that even though the board has no legal authority to do so, tabulation machines are used by the county board to “certify votes.” ” is at risk.

“Certifying an uncertifiable federal election could rise to the level of treason.” Plumb and his supporters read the letter. “Just because county election officials have not been held accountable in the past, please do not assume that they will not be held accountable now or in the future.”

“I marked it as ‘received’ and put it on file,” Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kass said, adding that he then went about the busy business of conducting the election.

Orange County Voter Registrar Bob Page responded to the Times in an email Sunday night regarding the letter: “We did not respond because New California does not have the legal authority to make this request.” said.

During a busy month of campaigning that begins after polls close on Tuesday, election workers continue to scan ballots, verify voter signatures on ballot envelopes and collect late-arriving overseas ballots. , adjudicating provisional ballots and giving voters whose ballots may be rejected an opportunity to correct them. Error or Contest Decisions.

In addition, California requires post-election audits, where at least 1% of randomly selected precincts are manually counted.

Meanwhile, election observers called for a certain level of trust.

“Glitches happen. These things happen every election… they can be misrepresented or unfairly exaggerated on social media,” Common Cause President Virginia Case Solomon said Monday. stated. She warned not to take the bait. “It’s up to us not to spread misinformation.”