It\u2019s been nearly a week since Election Day, and the California governor\u2019s race is still undecided, with millions of votes left to count. Here\u2019s where the California governor primary results stand as of Sunday:<\/p>\n
In California, the two highest vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party, advance to the final November ballot. On Friday, Democrat Xavier Becerra officially advanced<\/a> in the California governor\u2019s primary. The former state attorney general\u2019s competition is still in flux, however.\u00a0<\/p>\n As of Sunday morning, conservative commentator Steve Hilton holds the lead for second place over billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer. Hilton was the top choice for 26.1% of voters, with 1,763,414 total votes, and Steyer has 1,439,865, or 21.3% of the vote.\u00a0No other candidate is anywhere close to the three leaders. Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has about 724,000 votes so far, and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter<\/a> is in fifth with just 301,000 votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the California Secretary of State’s office, there are approximately\u00a03 million unprocessed ballots<\/a> as of Saturday evening. Over 6.3 million ballots have been counted. Overall, 19,788 of 19,788 precincts are at least partially reporting results. Updated vote totals normally drop in the evenings.\u00a0<\/p>\n California\u2019s election results must be certified by July 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Secretary of State\u2019s office explains on its site that there are a few reasons why Californians often wait days or weeks for the full results. Mail-in ballots that are received within a week of Election Day need processing, which means some ballots still in the mail system may need counting. Once a ballot is received, the Secretary of State says \u201celections officials must confirm each voter’s registration status, verify each voter’s signature on the vote-by-mail envelope, and ensure each person did not vote elsewhere in the same election before the ballot can be counted.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s no small feat for a state as large as California, which has about as many residents as the entire population of Canada. Nonetheless, both Republicans and Democrats agree the process should be speedier. On Friday, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office told SFGATE<\/a> that Newsom \u201cwishes the vote count moved faster, too.\u201d<\/p>\n