After Election Day, it takes time for County Elections Officials to count all the votes and make sure that all the votes have been counted. Counties have 28 days to complete the official canvass of an election. There are many steps that must be completed to ensure the integrity of the election, and in its essence, the purpose of the canvass accomplishes the following critical tasks:
- Ensure every eligible ballot is counted
- Ensure voters only voted once
- Ensure proper procedures were followed on Election Day
- Ensure the vote tabulation system is properly counting ballots
Processing Vote by Mail ballots takes time. Each signature is verified prior to preparing the ballot for counting. Vote by Mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received up to seven days after Election Day must go through this process as well.
During the canvass, voting records are updated based on whether a registered voter voted by mail or in person. During this process, the number of voters is reconciled to the number of ballots cast for each voting location. This is a critical step in ensuring that all ballots are accounted for from each voting location. The statewide voter registration database linking up all 58 counties helps staff ensure voters only voted once.
During the canvass, counties are required to conduct audits of the ballot counting system, by performing the One Percent Manual Tally. This involves randomly selecting at least one percent of the precincts of ballots cast in person, as well as Vote by Mail ballots, and performing a manual hand count of each set of ballots, then comparing them to the machine count results.
“Canvassing votes involves more than just scanning ballots and tallying results,” said Kristin B. Connelly, Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters. “There are many steps to ensure that ballots are counted properly, the equipment is counting correctly, and the integrity of the election is intact.”
As with all activities related to an election, the canvass is open to the public for observation. Please contact your county elections office for more details on how to observe election activities. Information on this topic as well as direct links to local elections offices can be found on our website, BayAreaVotes.org, or our Facebook page, Bay Area Votes.
Editors Note:
Dec 3, 2022 – Contra Costa County Elections Certify November 8 Election after two recounts were requested.
- 2022 – Antioch City Council District 1 race was determined by just 4 votes as Tamisha Torres-Walker beat out Joy Motts. A recount was requested, however,
- 2022 – Martinez City Council District 4 was determined by 24 votes where Debbie McKillop beat out Ben Therriault.
- 2022 – Richmond City Council District 2 went to a tiebreaker with the picking an envelope out of a shopping bag where Cesar Zepeda beat out Andrew Butt. County elections show after a re-count that Zepeda won by 3 votes.
By Roll of Dice, Larry Enos Reelected to Byron-Bethany Irrigation District
Back in 2018, Contra Costa County Elections held a roll of the dice where Larry Enos was re-elected to the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District.
A 51-51 tie in the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District Division 1 Director race was decided Friday by the roll of a 20-sided dice by Larry Enos and Milan “Pete” Petrovich.
This was the first tie-breaker for the District and the Contra Costa County Elections streamed the dice rolls live on social media. According to the county, the District had the option of going to a run-off election or simply by “rolling the dice”. They opted not to hold a runoff.
Enos and Petrovich each had three rolls which Enos earned 51 points and earned reelection to Petrovich 45 points.
According to County Elections, there are roughly 150 voters in the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District and 102 voted.
