NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. March 6, 2024 – Raise your hand if you mailed or dropped off your ballot on election day. You’re in good company, at least 21,000 of your fellow Nevada County voters did the same.
Like clockwork, questions about updated results started coming in early this morning. We hope this explainer will clarify what remains to be done and what to expect.
Patience required for accurate results
Results on election night are always “semifinal, unofficial” and only reflect votes tabulated that day after 8:00 pm. In Nevada County, the outcome of some local contests may not be fully determined until the official canvass period is over – 30 days after March 5th. The reason: Vote-by-mail ballots dropped off on election day at a vote center, drop box or mailed via USPS.
For the March 5th election 75,445 vote by mail ballots were issued to registered Nevada County voters. Last night, 29.32% of those ballots – 21,753 were counted. Statewide, voter turnout on election night was 19%.
The first results of the night (19,830 ballots) were vote-by-mail ballots received before the weekend and early voting at the vote centers. Seven days before the election, Nevada County can start to scan ballots into the tabulation computer. No count is tabulated until March 5th after the close of polls at 8:00 pm. For a short video how the ballots are processed:
On election night, the tabulation results are sent to the Secretary of State (SoS), once their election division acknowledges the receipt of the batch, the results are posted on the county website and distributed to the media present at the Elections Office. (Yours truly and a stringer for a polling firm got the coveted copies last night.)
After three reports, 21,753 of 74,201 ballots issued to Nevada County voters had been tabulated and election night was over. The difference between ballots mailed (75,445) and ballots issued are the 1,207 undeliverable ballots, 126 ballots with non-matching/missing signatures and provisional ballots issued.
According to a news release:
The elections canvass, or certification process, begins Thursday, March 7. Barring unforeseen circumstances, updates will be posted every Friday and Tuesday until the process is complete. “The election went smoothly,” said Registrar of Voters Natalie Adona. “Thank you to all the voters who participated in this process.” The Elections Office has until the end of the day March 12 to accept any ballot returned in the mail and postmarked on Election Day. The Elections Office has up to 30 days to certify the election and may finish sooner than the statutory deadline.
Nevada County Elections Office
This afternoon, the Elections Office released some preliminary numbers of ballots remaining to be counted. They verified 27,741 ballots in total, approximately 7,400 are awaiting signature verification and an additional 13,500 ballots are awaiting processing. Once these and ballots arriving during the next few days are processed, Nevada County’s voter turnout will climb to more customary heights.
In the June 7, 2022 Primary election, voter turnout in Nevada County was 50.41% once all ballots were counted. On election night in 2022, 17,574 ballots were counted for a 23.32% turnout. In other words, this is neither unprecedented nor unexpected.
We’ll bring you updates as they become available during the canvass period.