Contents
Summary
Timeline of Ballot Counting
Previous Trends in Vote Counting for this District
Additional Background
Quick Resources
Legal Context
Summary
Election calls can be difficult, and this will be an election unlike any in American history, given the number of early vote and vote-by-mail ballots to be cast due to changes in voting procedure triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
America’s intelligence agencies are warning that enemies of the United States are waging disinformation campaigns, which may include false election results. This memo serves as a guide to ballot counting and election results in California’s 21st congressional district.
This memo will cover the timeline of ballot submission and tabulation, previous trends in vote tabulation in CA-21, and voting information and where to find vote totals for each county in CA-21.
Timeline of Ballot Counting
| Nov. 3 | Election Day polling locations in all 4 counties open, 7am-8pm. |
| Nov. 4-20 | Counties continue to collect and tabulate election results from in-person and vote by mail ballots. |
| Nov. 20 | Final day for VBM ballots to arrive at each county registrar. |
| Nov. 25 | Final day for county registrars to notify voters of challenged ballot. |
| Dec. 3 | Election results are certified by each county. |
Previous Trends in Vote Counting for this District
In 2018, TJ Cox won the general election by 862 votes, or 50.4% of the vote total. The final vote share was 57,239 for Cox and 56,377 for Republican David Valadao.
The AP erroneously called the race for Valadao and retracted its call on November 26, 2018. Local news followed suit, writing up Valadao’s presumed victory. The AP called the race for Cox on November 28, and Valadao conceded on December 6.
Much like 2018, we expect that all ballots will not be counted by midnight on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
Media outlets are cautioned that outstanding uncounted mail and provisional ballots may change the candidates’ vote share, especially depending on each county’s timeline for tabulating votes by each ballot method (in person, by mail, or provisional).
Additional Background
California’s 21st congressional district contains the entirety of Kings County, large portions of Fresno and Kern Counties, and a small portion of Tulare County.
These counties allow voters to cast ballots through official ballot dropboxes, in the mail, at early-in-person voting sites, and at polling locations open throughout Election Day. Each county tabulates its votes separately and reports the results to the California Secretary of State.
Voters in Fresno, Kings, and Tulare Counties can vote at any location in their county. For example, a voter registered in Earlimart (Tulare County) can deliver their ballot to a voting box or polling place in Porterville (Tulare County); however, a voter registered in Earlimart cannot drop off their ballot in Delano (Kern County).
In Kern County, voters must either mail in their ballot, deliver their mail ballot to their polling place or the County Registrar of Voters office in Bakersfield, or go in-person to their regular polling place to cast their ballot. Kern County Voters who choose to vote in person must bring their mail ballot with them, or else they will be asked to cast a provisional ballot. Similarly, Kern County voters who go to the wrong polling place to vote in person will be asked to cast a provisional ballot.
Members of the public are welcome to watch ballot counting in each county, including the acceptance and rejection of provisional and mail ballots. The validity of a provisional ballot is at the discretion of each county’s registrar. Provisional ballots are counted last, after all mail and in-person votes are tabulated.
Quick Resources
Election results can be found at the following county websites:
● Fresno County
● Kern County
● Kings County
● Tulare County
Updated ballot return numbers are available from Political Data Inc. (PDI). The PDI early vote report shows the number of voters who have cast a ballot and their political party.
Legal Context
Inquiries pertaining to legal matters, voter protection, and counties’ election procedure can be directed to Amanda Sands at [email protected] or 617-276-6581, who will connect you with counsel for the campaign to address legal questions.
Inquiries pertaining to campaign activities or Congressman TJ Cox’s public schedule can be directed to the TJ Cox for Congress campaign at [email protected].