I'm proud to live in a state that makes it easy to vote. Mail-in ballots, drop boxes, extended registration — these are things worth protecting. But when it took nearly a week after the June 2nd primary to call the governor's race, I felt something uncomfortable: doubt. Not about fraud, but about whether we've built a system that works for voters in 2026.
That doubt isn't just mine. The New York Times editorial board said California's slow returns were "damaging faith in government." Nate Silver and national commentators piled on. When people across the political spectrum start questioning whether California can run an election efficiently, that's a problem we need to own and fix. The issue isn't mail-in voting itself — it's that counties are still processing ballots days after Election Day when other large states manage to report results the same night. California allowed ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to seven days later, and counties can't begin processing them until they arrive. That's a policy choice we made, and we can make a different one.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber has pushed for modernization, but the Legislature needs to act. I'm asking you to support legislation that moves California toward pre-processing mail ballots before Election Day — opening envelopes, verifying signatures, getting ballots ready to count the moment polls close — the way states like Colorado and Utah do it. Voters deserve to wake up the morning after an election with a clear picture of who won.
Faster results don't mean less secure elections. They mean California stops handing critics an easy story and starts showing the country what modern, trustworthy elections look like. Please support pre-processing reforms so Californians get election results they can trust on election night.
