Nevada City Calif. – After polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, Nevada County voters will begin seeing results from the General Election. But due to state law, certified results won’t be available until after 5

p.m. Nov. 25 at the earliest as election workers complete the careful process of verifying, counting and auditing ballots.

“Although waiting for final results can be frustrating, the additional time allows election workers to complete the checks required by law and ensure that every eligible ballot is counted accurately,” said Registrar of Voters Armando Salud-Ambriz.

Under state law, counties have until Dec. 3 to certify the election.

What to Expect on Election Night

Nevada County Elections plans to release its first unofficial results shortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night, with updates approximately every two hours until all in-person votes have been counted.

The initial results will include in-person and vote-by-mail ballots received, verified and processed before Election Day (as of Nov. 2 morning, about 36% of Nevada County’s approximately 76,700 registered voters have cast ballots). Initial results will not include all vote-by-mail ballots cast or returned on Nov. 3 or the day prior.

However, a new California law could delay state and federal Election Night results. If voting hours are extended at any polling location in the state because of certain election-related disruptions or violations, election officials statewide must wait until all polling places have closed before releasing those results. This requirement helps ensure that statewide results are not made public while voting is still underway. Local results will still be reported on schedule unless there is an extension of voting hours at a local polling location in Nevada County.

After Election Night, updated results will be posted every Friday and Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at www.NevadaCountyCA.gov/November3Election.

Why Does Counting Take So Long?

California’s election laws prioritize both voter access and accuracy. The convenience of vote-by-mail ballots comes with extra processing steps. Each vote-by-mail ballot envelope’s signature must be compared with the voter’s registration record, and the ballot has to be removed from the envelope. Many Nevada County voters return their ballots on Election Day, creating a large volume of ballots that must be processed after polls close.

Ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days afterward (by Nov. 10) can still be counted. Voters whose ballots have missing or mismatched signatures must also be given an opportunity to correct the problem. Election workers must additionally review provisional ballots and ballots cast through same-day voter registration to confirm voter eligibility and ensure no one votes more than once.

Required Post-Election Audit

Under state law, Nevada County Elections must also conduct a 1% manual tally, randomly selecting at least 1% of precincts and counting their ballots by hand. Those totals are compared with machine-tabulated results to verify the accuracy of the voting equipment.

This audit is open to the public and is scheduled this time on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. at the Ballot Processing Center, 12740 Loma Rica Drive, Grass Valley.

Election workers must reconcile records, account for ballots and investigate discrepancies before the election can be certified.

For election results and updates, visit www.NevadaCountyCA.gov/November3Election.