{"id":347530,"date":"2026-06-05T03:46:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347530\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T03:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:46:20","slug":"inside-empty-336m-la-county-election-vote-counting-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347530\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside empty $336M LA County election vote-counting facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the vote-count totals crawl across Los Angeles and California, The California Post visited the county\u2019s 144,000-square-foot ballot processing facility<\/a> Thursday, which showed dozens of empty work stations.<\/p>\n

The scene at the warehouse appeared at odds with the mounting pressure to process hundreds of thousands of remaining ballots. County officials announced Wednesday night that just 77,521 additional ballots had been processed since June 2 election night<\/a>, but an estimated 713,180 ballots are still outstanding.<\/p>\n

Piles of empty ballots waited to be counted Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post<\/p>\n

Rows of empty workstations inside LA County\u2019s ballot processing center as officials work through outstanding ballots. Jonathan Alcorn for CA Post<\/p>\n

Mayor Karen Bass advanced to the November election while election officials continued processing a ballot backlog. AP Photo\/William Liang<\/p>\n

Yet during The Post\u2019s visit, large sections of the facility appeared lightly staffed. Rows of workstations sat empty. <\/p>\n

Multiple sections of chairs were unoccupied.<\/p>\n

In one area, where ballots that cannot be automatically read by scanners are reviewed by election workers, roughly 25 bins of ballots appeared ready for processing while no employees were seated at nearby desks.<\/p>\n

LA County officials say California\u2019s extensive ballot verification requirements contribute to the lengthy counting process. Obtained by CA Post<\/p>\n

In another section where workers open envelopes and prepare ballots for counting,<\/a> The Post observed about 75 employees working, despite the area being capable of accommodating more than twice that number.<\/p>\n

CA governor frontrunner Steve Hilton said Thursday he would urge Governor Gavin Newsom to create an Emergency Election Count Accelerator Corps, mobilizing state personnel and rapid-response teams to assist counties struggling with major ballot-counting backlogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia is the laughing stock of the nation when it comes to election reporting. We are the fourth-largest economy in the world, home to Silicon Valley and some of the most advanced technology on earth, yet government bureaucrats need a month to count fewer than 10 million ballots,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hilton planned to unveil a plan to give counties additional staffing and funding to speed up ballot counting without disrupting election laws, security protocols or vote-counting standards.<\/p>\n

The scrutiny comes as Los Angeles County spends nearly $336 million <\/a>annually on the Registrar-Recorder\/County Clerk\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

County budget records show the department has more than 1,100 budgeted positions.<\/p>\n

The department is led by Registrar-Recorder\/County Clerk Dean Logan<\/a>, who oversees the elections and earns an annual salary of $448,179, according to county records<\/a>. Los Angeles County\u2019s election operation is enormous by any measure.<\/p>\n

Returns still place mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt in second place. Andy Johnstone for CA Post<\/p>\n

Bins containing ballots sit ready for processing inside the LA County Registrar-Recorder\/County Clerk\u2019s vote-counting op. Obtained by CA Post<\/p>\n

President Trump also took aim at California\u2019s slow count with a social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dumocrats are at it again! They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,\u201d he posted on Truth Social.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of misinformation floating around about California\u2019s election \u2014 including from the President, the post read, while sharing an explainer video from CNN on the counting efforts, Gavin Newsom\u2019s office posted on X in a response.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yes, for the record: we wish the votes were counted faster, too,\u201d the post concluded.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles County\u2019s voter rolls exceed 5.8 million people, more registered voters than the populations of most US states.<\/p>\n

The Post asked the Registrar\u2019s Office how many employees are currently assigned to ballot processing, whether staffing vacancies exist, why numerous workstations appeared empty despite the large backlog, and whether additional staffing could accelerate the count.<\/p>\n

When at the facility, The Post asked an election center staff member about the rows of unused workstations despite a massive ballot backlog. <\/p>\n

LA\u2019s ballot processing facility appeared sparsely staffed Thursday despite hundreds of thousands of ballots awaiting. Obtained by CA Post<\/p>\n

Rows of vacant desks were visible inside portions of the vote-counting operation. Obtained by CA Post<\/p>\n

The employee told us not to be \u201cfooled by what you see.\u201d When pressed to elaborate, the staff member offered no further explanation and walked away.<\/p>\n

Nico Ruderman, a Venice Neighborhood Council member and former California State Senate candidate, said that prolonged vote counts risk eroding public confidence in elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system that has been put in place with mail-in ballots and the amount of time it takes to count them gives people room to question our elections, and rightfully so,\u201d Ruderman said.<\/p>\n

Workstations sat vacant in the processing areas Thursday as the County continued working through a ballot backlog. Obtained by CA Post<\/p>\n

A staffed section of LA County\u2019s ballot processing facility is seen Thursday during ongoing vote-counting operations. Obtained by CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cAll eyes are on our elections right now, especially with such a close election,\u201d he said. \u201cOurs is taking forever because of incompetency and a poorly designed system. This is unnecessarily long, and it\u2019s a design flaw. It\u2019s not long because it needs to be. It\u2019s long because that\u2019s how the system was designed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruderman said he supports voting by mail but believes California should tighten its election rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure we have systems in place where all ballots are received by Election Day,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMail-in ballots should be requested, not automatically sent to everyone on the voter rolls. I believe in mail-in ballots. I used to travel frequently, and absentee ballots serve an important purpose. But there\u2019s a difference between absentee voting and automatically mailing ballots to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe should make it easy to vote, but we shouldn\u2019t make it easy for ballot harvesting or election fraud to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several other states that also held elections Tuesday are nearly finished counting.<\/p>\n

New Jersey has reported roughly 93% of ballots counted, while New Mexico and Montana are approaching 98%.<\/p>\n

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The next Los Angeles County ballot count update is expected Thursday evening, but with more than 700,000 ballots still outstanding, experts say it could be weeks before voters know which candidates will advance to the November ballot.<\/p>\n

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