FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Four days after Election Day, the vote count is still going in Fresno County, and in a few races, the margins are so tight that the tens of thousands of ballots left to count could decide who wins.<\/p>\n
Election workers spent their Saturday inside metal cages at the county’s elections warehouse in southeast Fresno, scanning envelopes and checking signatures.<\/p>\n
Fresno County Registrar of Voters James Kus said crews are about halfway through the more than 100,000 mail ballots returned on Election Day alone.<\/p>\n
Kus said that isn’t a record, since the county has seen more during presidential general elections, but it is a very high number.<\/p>\n
Staff spent almost all of Wednesday sorting and preparing those ballots, and since Thursday, crews have been working 10- to 12-hour days to get them through.<\/p>\n
“We have specific safety and security steps that we need to go through, especially these ones right here where we’re checking and capturing signatures, that it is just a bottleneck that we’re trying to put everything through at once, and it just takes time,” Kus said.<\/p>\n
How a mail ballot gets counted<\/p>\n
Ballots are scanned in batches, capturing an image of every envelope.<\/p>\n
A barcode on every envelope pulls up the voter’s signature on file, so staff can compare the two.<\/p>\n
That step also catches problem envelopes, such as an original ballot that was voided after the county mailed the voter another one. Those are set aside.<\/p>\n
“So scanning first, then the signature review all done by humans in Fresno County. There is no automated signature review process in Fresno County at this time,” Kus said.<\/p>\n
Kus said the county may move to automated review in the future, which could be a significant time savings. Any missing or questionable signature goes to a second review by a more experienced staffer.<\/p>\n
Kus said everyone who reviews signatures takes a training class every year, taught by a retired signature expert.<\/p>\n
Under California law, election workers have to assume the signature belongs to the voter.<\/p>\n
“So we’re looking for a very clear, incorrect signature. It’s got to be obviously wrong,” Kus said.<\/p>\n
A batch isn’t accepted until every ballot in it has been reviewed, so good ballots can be slowed down while staff work through others in the same batch. If a signature is challenged, the county mails the voter a letter, usually the same day or the next morning, and also reaches out by phone or email if it has that information.<\/p>\n
Kus said the county typically challenges about 2% of mail ballots, and about half of those are fixed through the cure process.<\/p>\n
Campaigns can buy the list of voters whose signatures were challenged and contact them directly.<\/p>\n
Kus said few campaigns had asked for it so far, though that could change in the coming days.<\/p>\n
“That’s a political decision for them to make. But yes, it is available,” Kus said.<\/p>\n
The envelope stays sealed through the entire signature check to protect the secrecy of each vote. Once a signature is approved, staff flip the envelopes so they can no longer see the voter’s name before opening them. If a voter wrote their name or other identifying information on the ballot itself, the ballot is duplicated so that information is separated from the vote. From there, the ballot is opened, checked to make sure it’s the correct ballot, unfolded and counted.<\/p>\n
Kus said the county’s machines can’t scan a folded ballot.<\/p>\n
Where the count stands <\/p>\n
The results released on election night included about 112,000 mail ballots, along with the more than 26,000 in-person votes cast on Election Day.<\/p>\n
Kus said in-person ballots cast at vote centers were added to the totals in the county’s election night updates. The county added just under 20,000 more ballots in an update Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Kus said mail ballots postmarked by Election Day can still arrive through Tuesday, and thousands came in Wednesday and Thursday, so the number of ballots left didn’t drop as fast as the count grew. Kus also cautioned that some of the outstanding numbers count envelopes, not ballots. Some envelopes hold voided ballots, and some aren’t ballots at all.<\/p>\n
“Maybe they’ve returned a primary ballot. Maybe they’ve sent us a water bill. There are some envelopes in there that just aren’t actual ballots,” Kus said.<\/p>\n
Fresno County expects nearly 260,000 people to vote in this election, roughly half of all registered voters. Kus said turnout could also depend on how many challenged ballots get cured.<\/p>\n
Campaigns in close races often push voters to fix their signatures, and with fewer major close races this election, he said participation could come in up to 1% lower.<\/p>\n
Close races still undecided<\/p>\n
Kus said even a big lead doesn’t guarantee a race is settled.<\/p>\n
“There are very few races right now that are mathematically decided. Even someone that is ahead by 20 points right now probably isn’t mathematically decided come Tuesday,” Kus said.<\/p>\n
One of the closest is the race for Fresno City Council District 1, where Naindeep Singh leads Rob Fuentes by 199 votes as of Thursday’s results. Neither has conceded.<\/p>\n
“We’re sitting at 199. We’re cautiously optimistic about Tuesday. And of course, you know, we’re feeling good about Friday. But, you know, we’re going to let James and the county clerk and their office do their job and be supportive of a fair process for all,” Singh said.<\/p>\n
Singh first ran for office in 2018, for Central Unified, and he was on the ballot for this seat in the June primary.<\/p>\n
“This was the best I’ve ever done,” Singh said.<\/p>\n
Rob Fuentes’ campaign declined a request for an interview and said they wanted to wait until the final election results come in to comment any further.<\/p>\n
The race turned contentious at times after Singh’s arrest last month on suspicion of DUI. Toxicology results later cleared him, and the police chief publicly apologized. Singh said police have started refunding the $1,040 he paid in tow fees, and he acknowledged his case moved faster than most.<\/p>\n
“There was an expedited process that most people don’t get,” Singh said.<\/p>\n
He said the fees people pay when they’re later cleared should be looked at.<\/p>\n
On Election Day, Singh said, voters approached him to express their anger over the arrest and to share their own experiences of feeling wrongly accused.<\/p>\n
Looking back on the campaign, Singh said his fondest memories came from conversations at voters’ doors. Some voters told him he spoke English well.<\/p>\n
“I said, yeah, I was born here, I would hope I do,” Singh said. He said he received messages of support from as far away as Mexico City, Punjab and Canada.<\/p>\n
“Overwhelmingly it’s just been such a positive experience. Definitely tiring at times. But like I said, there’s something special about this community that we live in,” Singh said.<\/p>\n
He added that “there’s something special that’s really happening in Fresno right now at this moment.”<\/p>\n
What’s next<\/p>\n
Election workers will take Sunday off and return to processing ballots Monday.<\/p>\n
The county’s next results update is Tuesday afternoon, and it should include many of the roughly 50,000 Election Day mail ballots crews have worked through so far.<\/p>\n
Another update is planned for Friday because of the federal holiday Wednesday.<\/p>\n
By law, the county must finish counting regular mail and in-person ballots within 13 days of the election. Kus said the county hopes to have every regular ballot counted by Friday, three days early.<\/p>\n
That would give staff a full weekend off, something Kus said they haven’t had in months.<\/p>\n
The work doesn’t end there. Crews still have to process same-day registrations, provisional ballots, ballots in the cure process and ballots that need duplication.<\/p>\n
Kus said those last two groups are growing. Same-day registration ballots can’t be counted until the county confirms those voters haven’t already cast a ballot.<\/p>\n
The county also plans to begin its manual tally Monday, testing a random sample of ballots cast. Kus said that will take five to 10 business days and must be finished before the county can certify the election.<\/p>\n
Certified results are expected around Thanksgiving, about a week earlier than legally required.<\/p>\n
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