California primary election results: Los Angeles mayor, California governor's races remain undecided

As elections workers continue to verify and count mail-in ballots still coming in, they're getting criticized over California's counting process.

As elections workers continue to verify and count mail-in ballots still coming in, they're getting pummeled with criticism over California's counting process. But why does the counting process take so long?

"The main culprit here is that California is an all-mail state, meaning that it mails a ballot to every single registered voter," said Stephen Richer, former Registrar of Voters for Maricopa County in Arizona.

The most populous state in the country is home to 23 million registered voters, which requires ample time for all ballots to be accurately counted. But in addition to the sheer volume of votes, the state also relies on a significant number of mail-in ballots, with some not arriving until a week after voting ends.

Richer says that in California, about 80% of voters vote using the ballot they get in the mail -- compare that to Texas for example, where only about 15% of voters use mail-in ballots, and he says you can understand why it takes so long in California.

"I think somebody defending California's system would say, look, we're a big spread-out state with a culture of mail voting. We like it because you don't have to wait in line. We like because it's accessible, we like it because we think it gives our voters every opportunity to participate in the system and that's what's most important to us," said Richer.

According to the California secretary of state, "vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days after the election, as well as any provisional ballots cast, must still be counted."

County election officials have up to 30 days after the election to count ballots. Final results from Tuesday's primary must be reported to the secretary of state by July 3, 2026.

The process of counting mail-in ballots and validating voters' signatures is also arduous, as each envelope signature must match the signatures on file, which can lead to additional delays.

A new batch of results from Tuesday's Primary Election have dropped. Here's where the races stand for L.A. mayor, California governor.

The next round of election results has dropped. Here's how the race for California governor is shaping up:

With 57% of the expected vote counted, gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton still leads the pack at 27%. Xavier Becerra stands at 26% and Tom Steyer is at 20%. There's still a lot of votes left to count.

Thursday's election results drop continued helping incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, who is still in the lead at 35%, with 66% of the expected vote counted. Spencer Pratt dropped from 30% to 29%. Nithya Raman is at 23%.The race is still too close to call to see who will be facing Bass in a runoff.

Follow the latest updates on the L.A. mayoral race here.

A new batch of results from Tuesday's Primary Election have dropped. Here's where the races stand for L.A. mayor, California governor.

It appears less than a quarter of California voters cast ballots in this primary election. Data from the Secretary of State's website shows just over 23% voter turnout.

It appears less than a quarter of California voters cast ballots in this primary election.

Data from the Secretary of State's website shows just over 23% voter turnout as of Thursday morning as ballots continue to be counted.

Here in the Bay Area, San Francisco and Sonoma counties had the biggest showings. But that's still far from previous elections.

The biggest turnout in California history was 57% for the Presidential primary in February of 2008.

Eight years later, the primary in June of 2016 saw a 47% turnout.

The primary in March of 2020 was close behind, at 46%.